24 crimes
by inkiyami
Summary: Atem is a student helping the police catch a serial killer. He suspects the killer is Seto Kaiba with no reasoning other than a hunch and moves to get closer to the CEO for more information. This is prideshipping AU
1. Chapter 1

author's notes: Too lazy for beta readers. Will try to keep tense changes and logic errors to a minimum.

WARNINGS

Setting: AU Domino city. Pretend none of the stuff in Yugioh canon happened.

Characters: Atem and Yugi are best friends. Kaiba is a bit older than them.

Kaiba is OOC. Personality is between season 0 Kaiba and duelist kingdom kaiba.

Actually everyone is a bit OOC.

Will be lots of death. And uh. the good sort of sexy death for Atem and Kaiba.

Kaiba is a serial killer. But he's not super crazy or anything.

Relationship between kaiba and Atem will be a bit crazy

The fic'll pretty serious but it's not going to be super sad.

This fic will be rather long. Not sure how long. If it goes according to my preliminary plans it'll be around 70k.

If you are cool with all this, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

The overhanging rain cloud that covered Domino city came suddenly, looming over buildings and dimming the sky to a grey inky hue. Caught unaware, the citizens merely acknowledged the sky and went along their merry way, hoping that whenever the rain did fall, it would not be at a moment of inconvenience. Not soon after though, the first droplets of water hit pavement, and gradually increased in frequency, until a heavy torrent of rain fell on the city, scattering anyone caught in it to seek nearby shelter.

"Fuck," Atem swore, the curse slipped out of his mouth long before he could have caught it. It didn't go unnoticed by the people who were standing with him in line, waiting to order coffee. But surely they all shared the same sentiment; the rain had become so noticeably heavy that it was beating on the glass windows.

Once Atem put in his order and retrieved his coffee and blueberry muffin whilst exchanging rueful glances with the server, he was faced with a decision. He could either wait by the door like the few idlers who dared not get wet, or run back to the university, a feat made more difficult with the coffee and muffin.

"This is all your fault," Atem glared at the muffin clutched in his hand. "If only you weren't so delicious." The muffin didn't respond. Sighing, Atem shook his head in defeat. Sneaking out of a study session for a "small" break to an off campus coffee shop wasn't exactly a bad thing. What was maybe more alarming was that he started needing breaks all the time after he discovered how amazing the blueberry muffins were at this cafe. If only today he listened to Yugi's advice and settled for the coffee shop on campus. Running back to the library in the rain would take approximately 10 minutes and no doubt he would be drenched by the end of it. But if he stayed at the cafe there would be no guarantee that the rain would ever stop, and by then the study session would be over.

Finally deciding to bite the bullet, Atem stuffed the muffin into his mouth and consumed it in three undignified bites. Opening the front entrance, the ambient noise of the rain and traffic brought in by a chill wind had shocked the still clammy atmosphere of the cafe. Not allowing any room for hesitation despite his misgivings, Atem ran out in a full sprint against the elements. Once outside, the weather happened to be as bad as it looked. The rain was cold, heavy and unrelenting and it sunk into hair and clothing within a few short moments.

He would have to go through the main shopping district then through a series of shortcuts if he wanted to take the fastest route back to campus. But because of the difficulties that came with running in the rain, including modulating his running speed and grip strength to not jostle a cup of coffee that was too expensive to throw away, he didn't get as far as he expected. He had ran maybe 5 blocks until he was stopped by a red light right by the center square of the main shopping center.

On a typical day the central square would have been teeming with people and activity. However, in the current circumstances, most pedestrians caught without umbrellas were lined huddled under overhanging shelters along buildings, leaving the square completely empty and Atem standing at the crosswalk as the lone idiot standing in the rain. Annoyed at the minor setback, Atem pulled wet hair out of his eyes and watched the slow moving traffic in front of him. If he had gotten the green light, he would have most likely not noticed it, but with nothing much else to do but wait, the flickering light from the large television above caught his attention. Dotted high along the span of buildings in the vicinity of the area were giant billboard ads. In the center of it, facing the square was a giant television that was around the size of a large truck.

Up on the screen was the image of a young man shot from bust up in what appeared to be a boardroom style press conference. He was most likely standing on a podium in the usual fashion of press conferences with a series of microphones lined in front of him. The occasional flashing lights from cameras gave an impression of vogue and glamour on the young man's handsome face despite the stale presentation of the subject. In captions on the bottom of the screen it read,

'Seto Kaiba becomes CEO of Kaiba corp.'

Somewhat stumped, Atem stared at the television. Kaiba corp had a new CEO? When was this type of news ever important enough to be broadcasted on a television whose primary use was for commercial and billboard style ads?

Although there was no sound audible of the press conference, like in all important speeches on japanese television, subtitles were shown on the bottom of the screen and Atem followed the statements given by the CEO with a keen awareness. It couldn't have been too far into the broadcast, but whatever Atem caught wasn't from the beginning. A mild sense of discomfort crept up into him although he didn't know if it was from standing still in the cold rain or if it was from watching the man on the screen speaking with an expression that was far too solemn and far too serious for someone his age.

From the bits and pieces that Atem was able to gather, it seemed like the young man who was the speaker, Seto Kaiba, became CEO and had plans to change the direction of the company into more cutting edge technology while still retaining their holdings in old industries. It wasn't exactly clear how the exchange of power happened between the old CEO and Seto Kaiba. The young CEO was extremely young. Probably far too young and untested to spearhead such an old and well established company.

While the thoughts were swirling in Atem's head, a particularly fat water droplet fell right between his eyes, waking him out of his ponderings. The rain hadn't changed in intensity. It still fell hard and curtained the city, the thrum of impacting water reverberating everywhere, the sound of it and the traffic once again reaching him. Running his free hand up his other arm, his skin was cold and almost numb to his touch. He must have been standing dumbly at the stoplight for god knows how long. Gathering his thoughts he resumed his journey back towards campus. Yugi was going to give him an earful if he ever caught a cold from this.

* * *

Atem came home late, far beyond the time when streetlamps lit against the first darkening of the night sky. The warmth of the apartment that always seemed to stay two degrees too warm had washed into Atem the moment he stepped into it. Whenever he came home at this time, there was always something cooking, and today the smell of tomatoes and spices lead Atem to the kitchen, filling him with thoughts of food and happiness and expelling the stresses of the day.

Yugi stood in front of the stove, brows furrowed and lips puckered in concentration, the expression visible barely only for a moment before he turned and broke into a warm smile upon sensing Atem's presence.

"Atem," Yugi said in greeting, before his eyes widened in surprise and scanned up and down Atem's form in an unconcealed show of mock disapproval. "You look uncharacteristically unattractive today."

"Hey, fuck off," Atem grinned, and walked towards his roommate. The food smelled great and it was making his stomach grumble in anticipation. He stood close enough to Yugi now, to see there was a smear of tomato sauce on his cheek.

"And since we're talking about unattractive," Atem smiled, and leaned back on the counter, "you have tomato sauce on your cheek." There was a time when the boundaries of their affection were so unclear that Atem would have wiped the sauce off Yugi's face with his finger and licked it clean without any awareness of decency. Yugi would have thought nothing of it and made some sarcastic remark about Atem's poor table manners. Nobody knew when that wall between them came up, only that it was there one day and it was accepted without any sense of loss on their part.

"Oh really?" Yugi said goodnaturedly, "where is it? over here?" He grabbed a kleenex and started dabbing at a spot right on his cheekbone.

"No, more behind," Atem suggested which compelled Yugi to drag the kleenex further down.

"I said more behind," Atem laughed, and Yugi instead dragged the kleenex to a point right under the sauce. Then trying to cover all his bases, Yugi scrubbed the whole of his cheek but managed to miss the integral spot somehow until Atem grabbed his hand and directed it to wipe the offending smear.

"I have absolutely no idea how you managed to wipe every spot except the right one Yugi," Atem said with amusement.

In his bashfulness, Yugi couldn't come up with a good come back and instead smiled in a way that Atem thought was hopelessly endearing.

"You are utterly useless without me," Atem tutted at Yugi.

"It's true Atem," Yugi sighed in mock resolution, "One day my face will be full of tomato sauce and I'm afraid nobody else would be able to wipe it off for me."

"Yes. The occupational risks of the terminally uncoordinated," Atem deadpanned.

Yugi laughed joyously. It was in these common moments they shared that they realized how fundamentally lucky they were that closeness and happiness was right beside them. He was about to say something overly sentimental when an errant thought popped into his head instead.

"So back to your woefully unattractive state," Yugi said mischievously, eyes glinting, "I bet I know how it happened."

"Oh?" Atem curiously intoned.

Yugi turned towards Atem and held up his hands to make a gesture. "You got caught in the rainstorm today."

"That's not difficult to guess," Atem replied. It had rained for most of the day.

"But wait!' Yugi added, this time shaking his lifted hands before curling his fingers in a mysterious fashion in a mock approximation of a fortune teller. "It's because you went to that coffee shop for that blueberry muffin you have an unhealthy addiction to and you got stuck in the rain on the way back," he added triumphantly.

"You were so close," Atem teased, not sure if he should be amazed at Yugi's clairvoyance or if his habits were that predictable. "The rain started while I was _in_ the coffee shop."

"Hey, that's pretty much the same thing!" Yugi exclaimed.

"If you say so," Atem said, smiling indulgently at his roommate.

Smiling apologetically in return, Yugi said sympathetically, "getting stuck in the rain must have sucked."

"It was stupid Yugi. I had to run back because I had a study session," Atem complained, although he wasn't really pissed off, he still sighed to highlight the anguish of the horrible day. "But when i came back we didn't cover anything. Everyone was too occupied with watching my hair dry."

Yugi found great amusement at the last comment and crooked his lips upwards in what could be considered Yugi's own brand of ineffective smirk.

"You haven't looked at yourself in the mirror all day haven't you," he said impishly, making Atem wonder how bad his hair actually looked.

Quick to ride on Yugi's teasing, Atem responded in a way he knew would please his roommate. "No, I didn't. I wouldn't have had the strength to handle what i saw."

Yugi laughed as expected and reached his hand out to straighten Atem's hair.

'You know...people watching my hair dry," Yugi said, still toying with strands of hair, "I don't think that's happened to me. At least not yet." Upon saying the words Yugi looked thoughtfully at nothing at particular. Atem knew Yugi well enough to know that Yugi had a strange fascination with the fact that their hairstyles were coincidentally similar in a bizarre bigger than life sort of way. He was most likely trying to catalog all of his previous experiences with the assumption that their hairstyles would carve out experiences that were uniquely same for them at individual points in their lives.

Suddenly feeling conscious of his appearance and the weight of everything that happened in the day, Atem realized he was in a dire need of a shower.

"How long will it be till dinner is ready?" He asked.

"Oh," Yugi said, turning reflexively to look at the pot on the stove. "Maybe in about 15 minutes or so?"

"I'm going to take a quick shower then," Atem said, and headed towards the bathroom.

* * *

Flicking the tips of his hair with a morose lack of enthusiasm, Atem had finally seen the full meaning of his 'uncharacteristic unattractiveness' in the bathroom mirror. The normally starfish-like shape of his hair was warped, as if a large distort filter was applied to it and affected its natural curl into unnatural directions. Sections were displaced and the general texture of his hair was messy, affecting his bangs to lose their normal shape so that they drooped without any structure or form.

Too tired to give any real thought to how silly he must have looked for a great portion of the day, Atem opened the curtain to the shower and was about to step into it when the ringing of his cell phone interrupted his movement.

Glancing at the caller ID, Atem picked up the call.

"Hello?"

"Atem, thank goodness you picked up," the gruff voice of the speaker sounded like gravel in his ear.

"Detective Magure?" Atem asked, gripping the slick plastic of his cell phone after he almost dropped it in surprise. It must have been more than a few years since the stern detective last called. Memories of highschool and of Tea and that horrific bomber incident resurfaced without warning.

"We need your help," the detective said in a gruff and serious sort of way. Because of the nature and time of the call, Atem couldn't help but burn with curiosity for the incident in question that forced the detective's hand.

"What is it?" Atem asked.

"There was a puzzle left on a crime scene," the detective said. "Nobody else can solve it."

"A puzzle?" The word had triggered a dormant sense of excitement and danger in Atem. "What sort of puzzle?"

"You'll know once you see it," the detective responded rather sternly, as if he was able to imagine Atem's excitement and disapproved of it. "We want to set you up at the station first to see if you can solve it off site."

"What's the problem with the crime scene?" Atem had pushed instead, full of curiosity. His need for control through information overrode his usual courteous behaviour.

"This isn't like any of the other cases you helped us with," the detective said, with such a heavy authority that it made Atem realize he got too ahead of himself.

"Is that so..." Atem said in a more measured tone.

"If I could help it, I don't want you to be involved," the detective's voice softened, almost sounding paternal.

"Detective.." Atem said to urge the other man to talk. Something was concerning about the detective's hesitance and reluctance to give information in a straightforward manner.

After a lengthy pause which made Atem wonder if the call was still connected, the detective spoke up. "It's dangerous. Whoever is behind it is smarter than the rest of us."

"What was the crime?" Atem asked, excitement welling up inside him with the promise of a challenging puzzle.

"It's a serial killer Atem. There is a serial killer in Domino City."


	2. Chapter 2

AN: the second part has a lot of dialogue. I didn't think the conversation would be so long and i just realized how difficult it is to make dialogue flow nicely because I tend to write the spoken words first, then the filler words later. w/e. 8k words and still no sex. what is up with that. It's actually going to take a really long time for them to get to that point and it makes me question if i'm really as perverted as i think i am.

* * *

"Serial killer!" The word had buzzed in Atem's head as he strode towards his destination towards the police station, the passing pedestrians and city landscape blurring out from focus. "There's really a serial killer here and nobody cares." The voice in Atem's mind reiterated, feeding the already tense energy flowing through his body. Nothing in the peaceful atmosphere of Domino city, from the laughing children walking to school and meandering oba-chans on their walkers would give an impression of lurking danger, leaving Atem feeling at odds with his own excited state and perceived reality. Why hadn't he heard about a serial killer? And for that matter, why hadn't he heard of any recent murders? Domino city wasn't exactly big by city standards, but there was still gang violence and a lot of government corruption. Although the dirty underbelly of the city wasn't exposed overtly, news would have still flowed through from the contacts that Atem kept.

A whole slew of questions and half baked suppositions ran through him, ones that bothered and excited him ever since he accepted the job from the detective last night. Due to Yugi's urging, he showered and ate properly, but it didn't do much to prevent him from tossing and turning through the night. He left at 7am the next day, not before warning Yugi to be careful and avoid playing games with strange looking people. Yugi huffed and said it was only that one time at school he did that and even then people with swastika tattoos could be good on the inside. Yami didn't buy it naturally, but was too mild in his affections for Yugi to say anything else.

It didn't take long to reach the Domino Police station. It sat tucked between the main central commercial area and the financial district, on a wide street with open areas. The building itself was very brown and had a feel of retro-professional vinyl, failing to age properly from its construction in the 70s. Atem himself had a fondness for the design, being an appreciator of the antiquated and unique. Walking in through the front doors, he felt himself be transported into a film noir style police station complete with checkered black and white tiled floor, wood paneled arches and moulding, and wooden benches that lined the wall of the narrow waiting area. On the right was a room for reception where guests could be greeted through the big hole in the wall between the room and the entrance which rested a counter for information.

Waiting at reception was an elderly woman who Atem remembered upon seeing her with much affection. If she did have any ailments, none of them affected her memory; her wrinkled face curled into a charming smile of familiarity the moment she saw Atem.

"Atem! come here you," the old woman cried while gesturing Atem forward with arms spread outwards, "oh it's been so long hasn't it."

Charmed by the old woman's straightforward gesture, Atem stepped towards the counter. "Matsumoto-san how are you doing?"

"I am doing well Atem! Or as well as an aging hag with water-elf disease could ever possibly be." The old woman laughed to show she didn't have a problem with her self effacing words and Atem smiled in polite fondness.

"You look well despite it," Atem said reassuringly and the old woman looked him over, the sharpness and twinkle in her eyes having not diminished with age.

"You were already so handsome in high school and look at you now," the old woman said nodding towards Atem with an warmth and bluntness only permitted to someone her age. "I bet the girls at school can't leave you alone."

"Girls in university are still too shy to approach me, and anyway, their charms are nothing compared to yours." Atem in turn said back, leaning into the counter and tilting his head forward in engagement.

"Oh, you certainly know how to make a woman blush." Palming her cheeks the old woman smiled demurely, in a way that brought youthful innocence back into her. "Makes me wish I was 10 years younger. Oh, no wait, make that 30 years." she corrected herself while grinning.

Atem smiled in reciprocation. "Detective Maguro said I should come to you for paperwork."

"Oh yes." The old woman said and shuffled around below the counter until she retrieved a 30 page stack of paper and offered it to Atem. "Here it is."

"Thank you," Atem took the papers. Most of the paperwork involved non-disclosure agreements and terms of use on equipment and protocol. The last time he did work for the police he didn't sign anything. New protocols or tighter bureaucracy must have been the cause behind the change but Atem didn't complain and filled out all of the empty signature boxes obediently.

"So they must have you solving puzzles again for them," the old woman said while watching Atem's form curved over the counter.

"Yes," Atem said meeting the old woman's glance. "They haven't told me the specifics of the case, but it seems rather urgent for them."

"I swear," the old woman groaned and rolled her eyes in exaggerated scorn, "those boys are so useless without you. City's protectors my teeth."

"I've been solving puzzles for a long time. That's all." While atem's responses were polite, measured and perfunctory in respect for his elders, he was really getting a kick out of the old woman's antics. She was part of a generation that grew up before the war, before technology and post-war restructuring, where everything was simple and human to human connection was the only good thing they had. It reminded him of Yugi's grandfather, who lived fearlessly and held a fervent and fierce love for everything in life. He loved Yugi and Atem as much as he loved gaming and adventure, which might not have said much because those things would have fell short to grandpa's love for a huge rack.

With that connection feeding his emotions, Atem smiled brightly and affectionately for the old woman and didn't think much of its effects on her until she dramatically raised her hand to her forehead, head upturned in distress, mimicking the action of a damsel fainting in love.

"Oh please don't smile at me like that, you're making something in me burst. And they're definitely not my ovaries because those've been cut out from me years ago."

Atem laughed heartily and handed the sheets back to the old woman now that all of the paperwork was signed and checked over. "Thank you for your help Matsumoto-san. I hope you have a good day."

"Atem, it was a pleasure seeing you again," the old woman smiled and held out her arm, flat palmed, pointed down the hallway. "Detective Magure is in room 201 on the 2nd floor."

Atem bowed his head and turned, walking down the corridor, on the cheap vinyl tiles that made a dull thud under his steps. Suddenly the tenseness from earlier had resurfaced and the shock of feeling made him realize that he had been totally relaxed during the exchange with the old woman. It was so easy to forget why he was here in the first place.

The second floor of the police station was simple and white, with a line of doors uniform on each side of the plain hallway. As Atem approached the single open door while counting room numbers as he passed, it had happened to coincidentally be room 201 when he reached it. Knocking on the open door out of sheer formality, Atem stood at the doorway until he saw Detective Magure's sitting form rise and come to greet him.

"Atem," the detective stood towering over his guest, imposing, playing the part of the stereotypical surly detective with his beige overcoat, broad padded shoulders, stubbled jawline and his piercing glare. "I don't mean to be rude, but we should get started as soon as possible," he said, without any sort of preliminary niceties, and lead Atem to a long teacher's desk in the center of the room. The room was rather large, much bigger than a classroom, shaped in a long rectangle partitioned into two by the central desk. Forms of objects on tables and photographs hung on walls were detectable peripherally on each side, but Atem was not able to get a good look from being occupied with the detective, who wasted no time in starting explanations.

"There were two murders committed," the Detective said, his gravelly voice lending weight to the otherwise inflectionless tone of speech. "One about 5 days ago and the other yesterday. The finer details are in the files over there." Atem glanced at the two thick binders in line of where the detective nodded his head. "With each victim a puzzle was left. Our resources are tied up now, so we have to rely on outside contractors. I'd have you know that any information regarding these cases do not go outside these walls." The detective raised his left eyebrow in waiting for Atem's response.

Without a good understanding of what information was already available to him in the binders, Atem was at a loss for what to say. "I'll try my best."

The detective nodded and continued. "We did everything we could to replicate the puzzles so that they match the real thing exactly. The noose that was around the first victim is the actual noose in the murder so wear gloves before handling it. The west side of the room is the puzzle for the first victim, and the other is the second. Anything you need to know about the case is in the file. If you need to reach me call me." From his front coat pocket a business card was produced and handed to Atem.

Atem nodded, taking as much of everything in as he could. "I will be sure to update you whenever something important is discovered."

"Good," the detective nodded. "I have much to do today. I gotta go now." Turning on his heels and walking towards the exit, the detective was barely at the door when Atem remembered one of the questions that bothered him before he got to the station.

"Detective!" The shout that Atem raised out of nowhere had stopped the detective mid-step. "Are these deaths public knowledge? Why haven't i heard of them?"

The detective turned not moving from his spot and had to ponder a second before giving his answer. "The second murder was released to the press this morning. The first one was originally thought to be a crime of passion but we found the puzzle just yesterday night. The media and public will probably go crazy once they discover there's a serial killer. We can't keep this knowledge from the public forever, but we're going to try to hide the existence of the puzzles. It would be inconvenient for copycat murders to pop up. Just so you know."

"Ah. Thank you. You can count on me," Atem said reassuringly, but the words instead prompted the detective to frown, his expression unreadable, just for a second before schooling it back to neutral.

The detective opened his mouth in mid-thought, then closed his mouth just to start talking. "Just focus on the puzzles Atem," he said, the downward arch of a thick eyebrow showing how serious he really was. "I don't want you to ask me about any of the details of the cases, nor do I intend for you to know anything that is not written in those binders. The police will handle catching the killer. You are not to help us beyond your designated task of solving puzzles." Straightening his posture, the detective tilted his chin up in a show of superiority, a gesture that meant any insubordination would not be tolerated.

"Understood," Atem said, facing the detective without any unease.

"Alright. It's good to have you on board." The detective nodded and left the premises.

Atem stood waiting until the detective had disappeared from view and breathed a sigh of relief. Originally he wanted to talk the detective into allowing him to view the puzzles in their original crime scene as well as get a more thorough briefing on the cases, but he was never granted the opportunity. Running his hand through his bangs, he glanced at each wing of the room as a simple assessment of what he was going to deal with.

On the west side was simply a large plastic bag containing thick rope on top of a table. Surrounding the table on the walls closeby were large print outs of photographs of what was probably the room where the body was found. According to what the detective had mentioned, the rope was probably thought to be only a murder weapon until somebody noticed that it was a puzzle.

Scanning the room to Atem's non-surprise, a camera was suspended in the upper left corner of the room which probably meant, as he turned to face the other side of the room, that there was a second camera to catch all angles of his movement. The yellowing plastic and large bulky shape of the cameras were an obvious sign that the lens and quality of the footage would only be able to capture a minimal amount of information. Still, it would be effective enough to stop him from fooling around in fear of being monitored.

The east side of the room had a standard pool table. Like the west side, on the walls nearby were large printouts of photographs of a room, most likely the one where the puzzle was found. From the surface assessment, Atem decided that he'd work on the pool table puzzle first, mostly because it looked more interesting, and also because solving the later puzzles would probably have more recent information to give to the police.

Atem grabbed the binder for the 2nd case and stood at the edge of the pool table. At first glance, the pool balls were scattered as if they were just broken, but then Atem noticed that all of the numbers were pointed up so that the balls were most likely deliberately placed in their positions by the killer. Just by looking, there wasn't any distinct pattern or possible connection between the balls on a visible level. Most puzzles in Atem's experience were self contained in the sense that the puzzles were solvable without specialized knowledge. But then there was no point for the killer to be so generous with the type of puzzles he/she made.

After deciding that a more thorough approach was in order, Atem went to the whiteboard and drew the pool table and all of the location of the balls to scale with the original and as accurately as possible. It wasn't until he was trying to count the balls to see if he got the number right that Atem noticed that there was one ball missing on the table. Annoyed that he didn't catch it sooner, Atem opened up the binder and sifted through the pages until he came to a photograph of the dead victim's face. It was a disgusting sight. The top part of the victim's face was totally mangled, as if it was blown apart by something powerful like a shotgun. Chunks of matter and blood surrounded the open wound. The lower area of the face was untouched by gore. The victim's mouth was wide open, with a blue pool ball embedded inside the cavity. Even the ball was inserted so that the number 10 was facing up.

Disgust filled Atem as he struggled to deal with the image that he saw and the boundaries of his required tasks. He should have read the binders first and got a better sense of the case details, but he also wanted to avoid knowing about the case if they weren't required to solve the puzzles. It wasn't as if Atem didn't want to know to anything. It was quite the opposite. There was an instinctual need and craving, a burning desire, to know as much as possible about the cases, to internalize the information and to make sense of it. But he also knew once he got involved, started to sympathize with the victims, he would start breaking rules to get the information he needed. And the detective was very clear that any sort of involvement would not be permitted. It was such a simple thing to mention the vital detail of the 10 ball, and the detective failed to mention even that.

At least now Atem had accounted for all the balls and he returned to the whiteboard to continue working on the puzzle. It was rather obvious that the 10 ball was a vital part of the puzzle now but he had no idea in what way. Was the blue of the ball more relevant? Or the ordering of the ball numbers? There was no hint given and nothing to indicate that the answer was expected in a certain format. Or maybe there was and it was in the binder. Or maybe even, these things were at the crime scene and the police failed to notice it. So much information was unavailable to him and he was asked to blindly wade through what was there.

He decided that he would keep on trying until all his options were exhausted. It would be only then that he would read through the details of the case, but his suspicion was that the report would unlikely have the right sort of information that was useful to solving the puzzles.

A few hours later, after uselessly going through the possibilities of approaches that he could think of, Atem decided he would take a little break. Maybe he was looking at the puzzle from the wrong angle. Maybe the puzzle had to be seen more from a symbolic viewpoint rather than a geometric one. Maybe the each of the balls symbolized something from say mythology or the bible, and the 10 ball represented something centrally important. Or maybe all of the maybes were making him go crazy.

Atem finally gave up and took the binder of the 2nd case with him and sat down on the chair that accompanied the teacher's desk in the middle. He opened the binder and started reading from the first page. Being a quick study, and an even quicker reader, Atem quickly got engrossed in the pages and pages of information. Most of the details in the binder were really dry and for the sake of record keeping, but there was one aspect of the case that was extremely fascinating. The estimated time of death of the victim was at about 5:00pm last night. The wife of the victim had actually come back home through the back door at around 6:00pm but failed to notice her husband was dead in the living room and left the house. At around 10:03pm, she called the police to report the murder. During the time she was away, the killer set up the puzzle in the game room that was beside the living room.

The killer had somehow managed to predict the wife's behaviour, or was extremely lucky to miss her. To be more precise, the wife was the lucky one.

With a newly found taste for crime information, Atem was about to go into the binder for the 1st case when he realized that he had arrangements to meet his friends down at the cafe. The second hand of the plain and inoffensive clock just turned to hit 4:00pm. Atem had to move fast if he wanted to meet them on time.

* * *

By the time Atem reached the cafe, he was 10 minutes late and everyone was already seated. The cafe that Atem and his friends started visiting from a teenage phase of coffee experimentation had eventually turned into one of their favourite hang-out spots. It was a tiny place, glass paneled and wooden framed, busy with customers crammed seat to seat and waitstaff bustling between them. The swirling sounds of conversation and the energy of human activity filled the air as Atem weaved his way to the open seat of the table of which his friends sat.

When he was within earshot of the conversation his friends noticed him and waved in greeting. Atem waved back, and noticed that Tristan was not there, nor was there an empty seat for him. He most likely had cancelled and Atem's assumption was verified by what he caught of Joey's explanation.

...helping some old woman look for a cat. I swear, I keep telling him the more he does stuff for his neighbours the more they keep asking for help."

"that's a horrible thing to say Joey," Yugi chided, but his voice was so mellow that it came out more as a sigh.

"Yeah, well, he's missing out on some quality hanging out time with us," Joey said.

"haha. Quality time? Us?" Yugi teased, but the sarcasm might have been lost on Joey.

"Of course!" Bakura said, the hinted sarcasm in his tone offset only by his britishness. "Who'd want to miss out on our no doubt highly informative and intellectual discussions?"

"Apparently tristan." Atem deadpanned.

"hey Atem!" Yugi exclaimed. Everyone else nodded in greeting for a second time.

"So tell us Atem, how was the big case?" Joey asked. Surprised but not really surprised, Atem figured that Yugi must have told everyone about the call yesterday.

"I couldn't figure anything out," Atem sighed. "I have a few options left but it might require writing a simulation program."

"what's the puzzle? can we help somehow?" Bakura asked.

"I don't think so. I'm under contract to not say anything to anyone. I don't think the police even want people to know I'm on the case."

"That's understandable considering the circumstances. I guess there's not much you can say about it." Yugi said sympathetically, propping one hand under his chin, elbow on table.

"I'm sorry. I wish I could," Atem smiled ruefully. It would have been fantastic to consult his friends on everything and to get their inputs, especially from Yugi who was just as good at puzzles as he.

A mild pause settled between everyone that was promptly smashed by Joey, his eyes wide with fear and excitement. "Can you believe there's a serial killer in Domino city?"

"It's rather unreal. It's something that you think wouldn't happen here." Bakura quietly murmured.

"Yeah, doesn't help that the police are so vague about all the details. Haven't even said why they know it's a serial killer," Joey frowned.

"Well, isn't that obvious? Why would they ask for Atem's help?" Bakura hinted.

"Huh?" Joey tilted his head in confusion.

"There's one thing Atem's good at that the police sought his help for before," Yugi pointed out, encouraging his friend.

"Oooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh hhhhhh," the light bulb had suddenly switched on above joey's head. "Because he's good at puzzles rigth?"

"SHHH. Joey!" Yugi and Bakura shushed and Joey shrank a bit out of embarrassment.

"The police don't want that bit of news to be getting around," Atem calmly contributed. "I'm not sure why exactly. They probably don't want the extra attention that would surely come from revealing that detail."

"Ah yes. Point taken," Bakura nodded.

"Ya think the killer's going after certain people?" Joey leaned in a bit and lowered his voice. 'You know like, how serial killers usually kill the same type of people. Prostitutes, little boys..."

"Could be. You heard about the victims right? Are there any similarities between a manager for a copy machine company and a student?" Bakura said back in a similar tone.

"Maybe? Like they like the same sort of pudding?"

"Really joey? Pudding?" Atem rolled his eyes.

"Well, could be pretty much anything. The serial killer might hate pudding." Joey said with maybe too much confidence.

"Joey could be right," Yugi said, "There might be a link that's not too obvious between the two. We'll never know because we don't have enough information." All eyes looked at Atem the moment Yugi had finished his sentence.

"Uh. Sorry guys, even if i knew, I wouldn't be able to say anyway," Atem said, raising his arms in a gesture of self defense. "If the police knew, they would obviously tell the public."

"That's true. But we're still in the dark aren't we. It makes everything a bit frightening to think that one of us might die just by talking to the wrong person or being at the wrong place at the wrong time," Bakura said, looking down morosely at his cup of tea.

"It's not like we can hole ourselves up and wait till the police catch this person," Yugi added. "We have to keep on going on with our lives."

"Maybe we shouldn't talk about this, It's seriously freaking me out." Looking a bit scared, Joey glanced from side to side.

"I think it's a good excuse for us to stick together and watch each other's backs," Yugi suggested, with a type of quiet strength and confidence that always impressed Atem.

"We haven't hung out much lately. Would be a splendid idea," Bakura nodded.

"You mean like, have sleep overs?" Joey asked.

"Why not?" Atem responded.

"It is a fantastic idea. Are you guys available tomorrow night?" Bakura asked, pulling out his cell phone.

Everyone nodded.

"Great. We can hang out at my and Atem's place then," Yugi said, breaking into a smile.

"Alright, let me send an email to my mom."

While Bakura was typing away on his cell, Atem phased himself out of the conversation between Yugi and Joey and idly looked at the insignia that was at the bottom of the phone. The brand of phone Bakura was using was NTT. There wasn't anything odd about the brand being one of the top cell phone producers in Japan, but seeing it all of a sudden sparked a memory of a lecture in his networking class. Because Bakura often used the internet and played games on it, his cell phone was more cutting edge and modern than everyone else's.

"Hey bakura, when you're done with the email, can I see your phone for a bit?" Atem asked, pointing at the phone.

"Oh, sure?"

Bakura almost two seconds later handed the phone to Atem where in which Atem turned the phone so that its back was facing Bakura and tapped the back in a non-verbal plea if he could open the cover. Bakura looked a bit confused and nodded anyway. Opening the cover was easier than he thought, though Atem was extra careful not to damage his friend's property. The battery pack that was revealed inside the phone, as Atem suspected, looking at the block KC intials, were a product of Kaiba Corporation.

"Huh. Kaiba corp. makes phone batteries," Atem thoughtlessly muttered.

"Ah?" Yugi asked.

"It's nothing. I was wondering what kaiba corp produces." Shaking his head, Atem returned the phone to Bakura.

"Why?" Yugi asked again.

"It's a big company right? I remember hearing about it a lot, but didn't know what it made exactly," Atem said.

"Why do you care about what Kaiba corp makes?" this time Joey asked.

"I saw a press conference on tv yesterday. Kaiba corp has a new CEO."

"So? What's so special about that?" Joey pressed.

Totally unable to detect the path that the line of questioning was taking him into, Atem responded honestly without much thought. "Something didn't make sense about it. The new CEO is far too young."

"You mean too young AND handsome?" Yugi teased, insightful in all things that involved Atem.

"What do you mean?" Atem asked, almost surprised and mollified that yugi would make such a suggestion.

But Yugi knew his friend too well and couldn't pass up the chance to tease him. "Face it Atem, when was the last time you ever talked about a press conference or any sort of corporate takeover. That's right, never."

"Look, I don't see-"

"It totally makes sense Atem. You absolutely have a thing for smart, powerful and good looking men." Joey jumped in, getting in his rare chance to tag team Atem with Yugi.

"I don't." Atem almost snapped.

"Remember your last crush?" Yugi asked.

"Who?"

"That guy in your Systems class," Yugi swirled his index finger in the air. "He was tall and smart and everything."

"Oh him," Atem subdued a bit with recognition. "He wasn't powerful in any way though. It was just a coincidence that his father was the vice president of Ferrari. And I didn't have a crush on him." The last sentence Atem had said with a lot more insistence than he intended.

"You totally did," Joey rebuffed. "Jesus christ Atem. He picked on Yugi and you totally got off on using that as an excuse to punish him.

"That's not what happened," Atem said stubbornly, crossing his arms.

"It totally was!" Joey exclaimed.

"I'm siding on Joey on this," Yugi added.

"Me too." Bakura said as well.

"You can say whatever you want." Atem rolled his eyes, almost embarrassed that he was having this conversation. "I was the only one actually there anyway."

"Doesn't change that you still like smart, powerful men," Joey said matter-of-factly, pointing his coffee cup at Atem.

"No I don't," Atem insisted.

"Fellows," Bakura raised his hands in a peace gesture, sounding distinctly more British. "We can argue all day or we can settle this with proof instead of mere words." With the dexterity of someone who spent far too much time on the internet, Bakura's fingers danced over his cell phone.

"What are you doing," Atem said, his suspicions making his stomach curl.

Bakura didn't reply, fingers still moving until the cell phone lit a blue light onto his face and whatever Bakura saw made his face light up into a smile. "Aha, so this is Mr. President."

The other two leaned in and their faces split into smiles after registering what they saw.

"Well damn," Joey said, and made a low appreciate whistle.

"Look at that smouldering glare," Yugi said, grinning impishly out of whatever kick he was getting at Atem's expense.

"I could feel my clothes practically peeling off from here," Joey voiced, saying the most outrageous and embarrassing thing to get a rise out of Atem.

But Yugi was the one who managed to do Atem in. He turned to his friend and said, "Atem, you are really aiming high here. I am so proud of you," with a smile that was so genuine and encouraging that it made Atem's breath catch in his throat.

When it came to Yugi and emotions, Yugi was typically so capable of sensing changes in shifting modes in other people that he noticed things about people that they were unable to notice in themselves. Had he been giving off some sort of love vibe without knowing? He hadn't felt any attraction to Seto Kaiba, but he wouldn't deny that the man was physically attractive.

"Oh. my. god. Look, Atem's blushing." Joey pointed out and shook Yugi's shoulder in excitement.

"You are all assholes," Atem grumpily said and sunk into his seat.

"And you my friend are in love with Seto Kaiba." Yugi said, half amused, half teasing.

"Fuck off. I'm not in love with Seto Kaiba." And even though Atem had said each word with full conviction, he couldn't stop the warmth that spread into his cheeks nor stop his hand from reflexively pulling his collar up in an attempt to hide the involuntary blush.


	3. Chapter 3

The light from the sun filled the room with a bright glow that was strong enough to wake Atem from his slumber and into a state of sudden confusion. It couldn't have been more than a second ago, when he closed his eyes for a quick rest in the dead of the night, fully intending to get his bearings together and get back to working on his program. But the evidence of the sunlit room and the way his cheek was pressed to the desk along with his aching neck was more than enough to tell him that the quick rest had turned into a full night's sleep.

Atem rubbed his bleary eyes and turned his cell phone so that he could see the time. The digital display read 8:32am. He had about an hour until his first class started. Of the 5 lectures he had that day, only two of them were skippable, not including the first one. It was a question of whether the time was better spent at home working on the program, or going to class and doing a half decent job at both. Maybe such important questions would have been answered if the air wasn't warm with the smell of fresh coffee and freshly baked cinnamon buns which effectively distracted Atem and awoken his neglected stomach.

Yugi was standing bent over Atem with a plate of cinnamon buns and coffee held out towards him. "Good morning Atem," Yugi said, head tilted to the side and with a warm smile on his lips.

"Good morning," Atem tiredly croaked out, and rearranged his body so that he was in an upright sitting position to look at Yugi more properly. Yugi placed the plate and the coffee on the desk before continuing on with the conversation.

"Did you sleep well?" Yugi asked, too polite to mention Atem's poor sleeping habits but still concerned enough to voice his thoughts.

"Somewhat. And you?" Atem asked back, in ingrained formality, even though he knew the answer.

"You know me right?" Good naturedly, Yugi rubbed the back of his neck and smiled kindly. For as long as Atem knew Yugi, Yugi never had trouble with sleep, even in extreme states of worry or stress.

A silence settled between the two of them due to Atem's lack of response and Yugi worried at the hem of his shirt before asking, "Do you have some time to chat?"

"Now?" Atem said with a yawn. "It's a bit early."

"The guys are coming tonight so I don't think we'll have a free moment together unless it's now, but it's not really that important." The touch of sober concern on Yugi's face made Atem wake up from what could be a serious discussion.

"Aaah," Atem relented. "What is it."

"Yesterday you said something was odd about Seto Kaiba right?"

"Ah yeah, the conversation that somehow turned into a discussion of my love life?" Atem smirked in recollection.

"Did I go too far with that yesterday?" Yugi asked seemingly concerned, although Atem had no idea why.

"No, it's fine. I wasn't bothered by it."

"Do you want to talk about it? I mean what you think about Kaiba," Yugi said, looking somewhat unsure of whether he wanted to have this conversation or not.

"It's not anything important. He looked far too young to be the CEO of a well established multinational corporation. That's all." There was a lot more Atem could have said about the topic, but there was little point in bringing it up because almost all his concerns could have been solved with a simple search.

"Aaah. That's the only reason why he got your attention?" Yugi asked.

"I was never really that focused on him," Atem said more matter of factly than he normally did with Yugi. "I was more surprised that you thought I was in love with him."

"Oh really? Yesterday I was joking, but I really thought..." Yugi started, but his hesitance overrode whatever else he was about to say and brought up his hand to scratch his cheek instead.

"What did you think?" Atem asked, his attention to Yugi suddenly more focused.

"Maybe I read too much into it?" Yugi said looking up at the ceiling, showing sudden doubt in his thoughts. But Yugi continued anyway, set on communicating whatever it is that he planned to say.

"Do you remember when you and Tea started going out? I didn't mind it of course, but while you were together, I had the feeling that the space between us was occupied with someone."

"Yes, I remember we had a discussion about it before." Atem nodded, recalling that strange span of time in high school of an awkward triangle relationship.

"Well, I got that feeling when you came back home two days ago. It was slight, but it felt like you met somebody and you were being extra nice to hide it from me." Yugi said, lips pursed together, with a ponderous look on his face that meant he was being serious.

"I only saw him on TV Yugi," Atem pointed out. "It's not like there's a basis for any legitimate attachment."

"Even still...I'm not sure why I feel this way, but maybe there's something instinctively different and appealing about him to you." That look was still on Yugi's face, though the intensity was lessened into one of curious thought.

"If I were to hazard a guess, he would have that effect on a lot of people based solely on his looks" Atem dryly said, and grabbed the cinnamon bun. Once it was trapped in his clutches he realized that he vastly underestimated its stickiness and it was maybe more of a sticky bun than a cinnamon bun.

"That's true too," Yugi said, not paying any attention to Atem. "Maybe I was confused because you never had a celebrity crush before."

"Is that what we're calling it now." Atem deadpanned.

"That's what it is right?" Yugi smiled in sudden playfulness. "I'm just trying to mentally prepare myself for the day when I walk into your room and it will be full of Seto Kaiba posters hung up everywhere."

"Yugi, when that day comes, don't think your room will be safe from the onslaught." Atem said, and directed a pointed look at Yugi.

"Ok. But if you must, make sure you give me the raciest pictures." Yugi said in mock earnest then smiled at his friend.

"Anything for you, Aibou," Atem said as sweetly as he could muster and took a generous bite out of his cinnamon bun/sticky bun.

* * *

Atem wound up going to all his classes, although most of the time was spent face down typing away at his keyboard. He was called out once by a teacher to solve a problem and the answer had miraculously popped into his mind right when he needed it. The second time he was called out he was chewed out by a professor only for him to sass the professor back by making a claim that it didn't matter what he did as long as he learned the material and didn't disturb the class. Atem got kicked out of the class for being disrespectful, but it didn't bother him much because whatever grade he got in this class wouldn't affect his GPA.

The rest of the day was spent in the library, in a quiet corner typing furiously away at his laptop. Spending most of his time inattentive to class wasn't a waste though. Atem had finally got a working version of his program working against all of his standard testing and it was ready to be used to run simulations on the pool puzzle. It didn't take too long to set up the program since he gutted the physics engine and pool algorithms from other sources. He had only done what he needed to do to make the simulation fit his required needs for accuracy and speed.

Now all he had to do was run multiple simulations with the different parameters he had set up. Atem still had no idea what the puzzle demanded, his best guess was to find at which angle the 10 ball would be pocketed in the scenario of a perfect game. What constituted a perfect game came with a set of assumed requirements like least amount of bounces off the sides and trying to avoid hitting other balls as much as possible. Atem had great hesitations even approaching the puzzle from a simulation angle, but he was running out of choices. Depending on the results, it would be obvious if doing a simulation was the intended solution

Saving and backing up his work, Atem shut the top of the laptop with a sense of satisfaction. He'll run the simulation while he's hanging out with his friends and see the results the next morning. With that muted brand of anticipation in mind, Atem packed up his things and headed for home.

* * *

When Atem reached his apartment unit, tired from being weighted down from baggage and the extra pack of beer he picked up along the way, the joyous laughs of his friends could be heard from across his door. The familiarity of the sound had unconsciously brought a smile to his face and he quickened himself to unlock the door, the jingling of his jostling keys sounding loud in his ears.

Inside the apartment everyone was around the TV watching a video game match between Joey and Yugi. From the way Joey was glaring furiously at the screen, Atem was able to guess that Yugi was probably winning the game. Finally a loud bang went off and Joey fell backwards in defeat as if the virtual explosion was actually capable of propelling his body. Everybody laughed and noticed Atem standing watching them once Yugi turned around to address him.

"Yo Atem!" Yugi cried.

"Hey, have you been playing video games all day?" Atem said, with arms crossed although his countenance was rather warm.

"Atem, you gotta see this, Yugi found a glitch in the game that makes everyone headless. it's so badass!" Joey exclaimed, the coolness of it all unfazing him from his previous loss.

"Yeah? So headshots don't count anymore?" Atem asked.

"It does! But it's super hard to aim without the head." Joey grinned manically and everyone else laughed at his expression.

"Did you bring beer Atem?" Tristan asked, looking at the 6 pack gripped in his hand.

Atem nodded and took all of his stuff to the kitchen where the open wall between the kitchen and the living room allowed him to converse with his friends without any problem.

"Ok, Let me go to my room to do a few things and I'll be out shortly. Did you guys eat anything yet?" Atem asked, having to raise his voice to carry over the distance and the sound of the television.

"We had some snacks, but we decided to order in once you came back." Bakura said, half paying attention to the game and half to Atem.

"Has there been any new revelations about the serial killer?" Atem asked, though the question was mostly directed to Bakura who was more of an information junkie than everyone else.

"Not in particular. I checked a few hours ago, and it's all useless speculation." Without turning around, unable to take his eyes of the screen, Bakura's words were just barely audible.

"You can read the newspaper from today, but I can't imagine it would be any more up to date than what's on the internet." Yugi offered instead, and Atem saw a stack of paper on the counter, the smaller size probably being a free local newspaper rather than the official city one. It was good enough to report on main current events which is all what Atem needed.

"Thanks, I'll read the newspaper." Atem said.

"Don't you wanna play Atem?" Yugi asked.

"Not today. My brain is too fried to play," Atem remorsefully said. It had been too long since he played video games against his friends and he wasn't in the mood to lose today.

"You just don't want to get your ass kicked." Joey said, the mocking tone of his voice rather evident even with his face turned towards the screen.

Atem laughed condescendingly. "By you? Never." Even though nobody was really looking, Atem crossed his arms and haughtily addressed the challenge.

"Then prove it hotshot." Joey yelled back.

"Sorry, I'm going to pass." Atem instead relented and walked towards his room. If Joey made some sort of retort, Atem by then was already out of earshot to hear it.

Back in the silence of his room, Atem set up his laptop and configured everything so that his simulation would run without any problems. By his estimation, it would take about an hour and a half tops to get the results. Making a final mental preparation to assure himself that everything was in order, he took in a big breath and pressed the button to start the simulation. A little dialogue bar popped up as expected displaying running processes and Atem released his breath.

Atem returned to the kitchen where everyone was still occupied with video games. Now it was Joey playing against Bakura, and from all signs that were visible, it was pretty evident that Joey was getting his ass kicked again. Yugi gave Atem a helpless smile and skipped over to the kitchen table, beside where Atem was sitting.

"I think we're ready to order food now. Do you want to?" Yugi hopped on the spot in front of Atem.

"I'm definitely up for food. What are you ordering?"

"Pizza. With tons of stuff as requested by Joey." Yugi beamed, seemingly really happy about the concept of eating mediocre fast food pizza.

"Get me whatever you're getting then." Atem nodded to Yugi and moved his focus back on to the newspaper he was reading.

"Alright, will do." Yugi said and disappeared to retrieve his cell phone to make the call.

The front page of the newspaper had written on it in large bold white text 'SERIAL KILLER IN DOMINO CITY', on top of a grainy picture of a house shot at night. Atem didn't visibly recognize the house, in all likelihood it was the location where the first victim was murdered. A good 10 pages of the newspaper was dedicated to the serial killer, ranging from the murder locations and the victims and their relations. Some of the information seemed factual, a lot of it looked like fear mongering in pure speculation. Included in the category of false information was a police given statement that a grey circular card was hidden in each crime scene which indicated to them that it was the same killer. Atem didn't know if it was ethical for the police to lie to the public in this way, although there was a big chance that nobody would ever discover the lie.

Atem flipped through the rest of the newspaper, just to see if there were other mentions of serial killer news. There was a comic mocking the general competence of the domino police force, and it seemed like the media had already decided to lovingly name the serial killer the grey puck killer. The back sections of the newspaper gradually turned into ads and classifieds which Atem flicked through with disinterest. He was at the job boards when one particular heading of a job posting caught his eye.

Personal Secretary Job Opportunity

Kaiba corp is seeking a personal secretary for the CEO.

interested candidates are to send a cover letter and resume to HR

Atem stared at the newspaper ad. He didn't know why it struck him as awfully odd that such a job posting would be placed in a free newspaper. Maybe it was because the rank of the position was too high for the targeted audience of the newspaper. Or that a technology company like Kaiba Corp should be using more modern methods of finding employees. It always struck Atem as strange that whatever Kaiba corp did went contrary to whatever he considered standard or logical. Atem realized that he was staring at the job ad for far too long when he felt a shadow loom over him and Yugi's voice saying out of nowhere,

"What are you looking at?"

"Huh?" Atem started in surprise, taking a while to register his current situation.

Before he could hide the job ad, Yugi snatched the newspaper away from his grasp and took a scrutinizing glance at the part where Atem was last looking at.

"A job ad for Seto Kaiba's personal secretary," Yugi calmly said, the lack of any inflection made Atem embarrassed for being caught again on the very subject he was made fun of yesterday. "Are you considering applying for the job?" Yugi turned to Atem and looked at him with wide-eyed inquiry.

"Oh, no, of course not," Atem denied. "You just caught me at a bad time."

"Huh? Who's Seto Kaiba?" Tristan's voice came from the other room.

"Atem's favourite celebrity," Yugi replied to the clueless Tristan.

"Seto Kaiba is looking for a personal secretary? You should totally apply for the job Atem." Joey's voice shot through from the living room.

"Why would I. I'm too busy with school and helping the police." Atem frowned.

"No, not to get a job, so you can meet him and ask him out in person." Joey said, as if Atem was daft.

"Him? Seto kaiba is a guy?" Tristan cluelessly said. Nobody seemed to be paying much attention to him to help him out.

"Why would I ever do that." Atem said back to Joey.

"Duh. Because you totally have the hots for him." Atem could feel Joey's eyes roll all the way from the kitchen.

Annoyed, Atem couldn't help but voice his defense. "That doesn't mean I'll go out of my way to meet him. And i don't have the hots for him. Why are you guys being so stubborn about this." Of course he knew why they were doing this. He might or might not have done the exact same thing to Joey and Yugi when they were crushing on certain girls in the not so distant past.

"You were looking at the newspaper like it was a piece of meat," Yugi frowned, looking somewhat concerned.

"I wasn't." Atem insisted.

"You were Atem." Joey said matter of factly, now totally ignoring the game and looking at Atem.

"How do you even know Joey? You were sitting way back there." Atem shot back.

"I can read your mind." Joey nodded sagely and crossed his arms so that he looked like a wise genie.

"This is unbelievable." Atem groaned and raised his arms in defeat.

"Come on Atem Seize the chance. Carpe diem." Tristan yelled from across the room, although it seemed like he was being randomly encouraging without knowing what was going on.

"Ok, if you don't apply, then i'll apply for you. How's that sound?" Joey smirked, rubbing his chin with his free hand as if he was deviously planning something.

"Really Joey?" Atem said in exasperation. "OK, fine. Do whatever the hell you want."

"Don't get so pissy Atem, you probably won't get a call back anyway. I'm just messing with you." Joey said in defense and turned around back to the game.

"Hah. Seems like that's the only thing you excel at," Atem gritted in annoyance, a slight scowl showing on his face.

"Ouch." Joey visibly winced but didn't retaliate any further and continued playing the game. Rubbing Atem's shoulder in a calming motion, Yugi smiled at Atem but didn't say anything and returned to the living room.

Left on his own Atem took a breath to calm his agitation. Was he usually this defensive with his friends? They've teased him about these sort of things many times before and he never really cared. It was then that Atem realized that the kaiba corporation, or Seto Kaiba had some sort of presence in his consciousness, no matter how seemingly insignificant it was. So what if Joey sent a job application to the company in his name. It would be so poorly done that nobody would think twice about hiring him.

He was a student with no real world experience. A personal secretary was as good as a right hand person to the executive branch of the company. They would only consider hiring someone with a good track record and reliable experience. Even if he got the interview, he could just politely decline it and move on with his life. But the idea of even a slight possibility of Seto Kaiba seeing his resume and whatever hairbrained thing Joey would add to that application as a joke made Atem extremely uncomfortable in a way that made him want to beat Joey to a pulp for doing it.

Atem wouldn't allow himself the thought of it. If he admitted that he cared, it would mean that Seto Kaiba's estimation of him would matter in some sort of way. And it was the exact thing he insisted wasn't happening.

No. He would let Joey send the resume, and that would be the last he would hear of Seto Kaiba and Kaiba Corp. Atem couldn't conceive of the notion of having an attachment to a person he never met, and thus asserted that reality should bend to this simple thing.

* * *

AN: more embarrassment to come for Atem. heh heh. Yugi in this story has a better grip on what's happening to Atem than Atem. And I'm not sure how I'm going to handle Kaiba yet. Kaiba won't show up in the next part, I think probably the next next one.

I like making Atem look manly but he doesn't really see himself in that way. I think kaiba will be more forward with this particular relationship because he feels more invincible in this context than he probably would with one if they were standing on equal terms.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: this chapter is long and perhaps even boring. I dunno. I'm not really planning this thing out all too well so sometimes I have to reaccount for dumb things that I did in previous chapters. It's not really boring or difficult to write, but I fear that it might not make sense to the reader. Anyway, it's just stupid puzzle stuff so if you wanna just get to the prideship parts, skip everything except the last part.

I mean I'm really just writing this for the prideship and any plot related stuff is put in because I have extreme difficulty getting them to sex unless the context permits it? So it winds up being a lot simpler in my head and then when writing it out it's like, ohshit, there's a lot of detail that i didn't anticipate.

Anywayyy, for those of you who are still hanging in there, I really do hope you're getting some enjoyment out of it. XD; I'm enjoying myself so yeah. But writing fic is hard stuff and I'm really finding out why it is so.

* * *

The results of the simulation were a bust. Well, not necessarily a bust so much as a clusterfuck Atem blandly thought as he scanned the mess of digital text in the form of impossible datapoints that filled his laptop screen. Unless the killer was as sadistic in their puzzle solution demands as they were in murdering, there wasn't really much point in trying to extrapolate anything from the useless data.

Heavy with the disappointment of failure, Atem bid his farewell to a sleepy Yugi and headed towards the police station.

The crisp morning air bit into Atem once he stepped outside, a sudden reminder of the first turnings of the season. It wasn't the only obvious change in the atmosphere, it had occurred to Atem while he traversed his residential neighborhood, then glancing at the sullen and uninterested faces of people in the subway. Within a span of a day, the news of the serial killer had sunk into the consciousness of the city. Without knowing what to fear, the collective fell back to fearing everything, and the usual smiles and open generosity of the public had turned into guarded suspicion. It couldn't be helped Atem thought, leaning back on a glass pane on the subway, casually observing the noticeable changes in the in the bearing and expressions of the typical commuter.

Similar to the dour atmosphere of the public, the police station wasn't in any better condition. Atem had relayed his failures to Detective Maguro, who listened inattentively then gave a fraction of a nod and turned back to his desk as a rather off-putting method of relieving people from his presence. The causal dismissal had soured Atem who had the presence of mind to stay silent and go back about to his required tasks.

Back in the puzzle room, back to the infuriating pool table and various scattered pieces of disparate crime related objects, a strange lethargy took over Atem. In a rather uncharacteristic state of deplorable resignation, Atem sat in the seat of the center desk and slouched backwards into the backrest of the chair. His head hung limply to the side while his right hand lazily flipped through the pages in the binder of the first case. If he was in a better state, all of the information would have been committed to memory, but currently only the base essentials had any interest to him. In this particular case, the unfortunate victim was a university student, who was found in his room with rope around his neck, hung from a metal T-brace that ran along the ceiling. The police had originally ruled the death out as a suicide, given that the day before, the victim had threatened to kill himself to a university classmate if she did not return his affections. It was only when the rope that was originally considered a tool for suicide was inspected further that there were irregularities in its construction found that told the police it was most likely a puzzle and a murder weapon.

All of the secondary information of the case just briefly touched his awareness and then disappeared into the ether. His mind was too jumbled, occupied with failure and disappointment and the countless number of things out of his control. Occasionally, without any warning, his mind would stray over to Joey and whether he made good on his threat to apply to Kaiba Corp in Atem's name, though luckily such thoughts faded easily in the presence of bigger issues. These minor annoyances were nothing, however, compared to the sheer weight of his inability to perform. The pool table and the murder rope that sat curled and lifeless in the sterile plastic bag said nothing to him. Likewise with the pages and pages of dry information compiled through the eyes of a secondary source. He would have to struggle to come to the same conclusions off site since he was not allowed onto the crime scene to get vital information in person.

He needed more and better information. What that information was could have been anyone's guess, since it was impossible to make guesses as to what was at or not at the crime scene. The only thing he was capable of doing was making general estimates on what he was lacking and ask the police get the information for him. It was a more aggressive and involved stance to take despite the detective's warnings, but he had to be more forward if it meant making progress. He was tired of sitting around trying to find solutions by chance.

Feeling a bit better about about his prospects, Atem straightened himself up and mentally made a list of all the things he needed the police to look for. Then, thinking it was probably better to make a list for both of the cases, Atem got up and went set work on the first case.

There was much less information in the binder of the first case than the second. It seemed like the victim was somewhat of a recluse and even the way he was murdered was a testament to the victim's solitary lifestyle. Something was unsettling about a serial killer faking suicide for no absolute reason other than to be deliberately vague.

On this particular day, the rope that was the murder weapon for the first case, the rope Atem lovingly dubbed as the 'murder rope', was not on the east-side table. Recalling the detective's words that the rope was not a duplicate but the real thing, Atem realized that it was probably under a lot of heavy security, although it did not seem that way the previous day. He went down to the secretary who told him the rope was in the evidence room. That would have been nice for the detective to tell him beforehand Atem dryly thought, and went further down to the basement. Like the rest of the building the basement was rather old, but unlike the first two floors that had some sense of presentation, the basement was dark and poorly maintained, basically it was just a short concrete corridor. On the end of the corridor was a small reception desk and a uniformed man sitting in bored inattention. The man barely changed expressions even as Atem entered the basement and walked towards him. Without questioning Atem's presence or identity, the man nodded a, "Wait here," and disappeared into the double metal doors.

The man returned with a box and ushered Atem back into the puzzle room, nodding his farewell then leaving. With the murder rope now in his hands, Atem put on a pair of latex gloves and pulled apart the plastic ziplock seal of the bag. A faint pungent odor filled his nostrils but the stench was otherwise tolerable. He pulled the rope out and turned it carefully in his hands. There was nothing visibly unusual about the rope except the knot seemed a bit more sophisticated than the knot a layman would make. So the killer knows about knots, though for what purpose Atem wasn't entirely sure. The rope was rather thick, almost two centimeters in diameter, and was twisted into form with 6 thinner subropes. On the inner area of the rope that was in contact with the victim's head and neck, running along two of the subropes were black lines that seemed to be painted on by permanent marker. The lines went diagonally down the rope in pairs and went down all the way down the rope until they weren't visible anymore, hidden by the knot.

Other than that, there didn't seem to be much else. The line patterns were recorded faithfully into the binder so he didn't need to dismantle the knot to get the rest of the puzzle. By surface appearances, the patterns were most likely code, though one could never write off the surprising quality of puzzles. Decoding puzzles were Atem's least favourite type of puzzle. It was just a pain in general to find the right system, and never satisfying enough for the amount of work it took to solve them.

Flipping through the binders again, Atem made a mental list of all the information that he needed and retrieved the detective's card to make the call.

After a long wait hearing the ringtone, the connection clicked and a gruff "Hello?" sounded in Atem's ear.

"Detective Maguro," Atem said, "I have a few requests to make."

"...What is it?" the detective asked, pausing slightly, no doubt bracing himself for whatever it is Atem was about to say.

"I need floorplans for both of the murders and the location of the puzzles in detail as where as well as the location and positioning of the victim. For the second case, have you searched the student's dorm for all occurrences of strange knots like the one the victim was murdered with? Oh, also, having a better picture of the view outside of the window of the dorm would be nice. Do another search, look for things that are common in both crime scenes. I also need a list of the hobbies of the victims and the types of knowledge/education they would have. The lines in first case looks like code, try to find anything in the victim's belongings or history that would help decode the puzzle." The barrage of words had slipped out almost in one breath and Atem wondered if the detective even bothered remembering half of what he said.

"The floorplans should be in the binders," the detective said sounding not too pleased.

"They're not."

"Ok. I'll get them to you," the detective said. "In regards to the rest of your requests, I assure you we searched and have done background checks as much as possible."

Something told Atem that even if it was true, the police force probably did a bad job at it. "This would be easier if you simply let me see the crime scene myself."

"I can't allow that."

"Fine, then it becomes a question of how fast you want results," Atem said, a little miffed, and his feelings probably were relayed quite clearly to the detective.

"You're not a policeman Atem. There are protocol and background checks you have to go through. You are only here because the head detective was so impressed with your previous assistance," the detective said, the disagreement punctuated in nearly ever spoken word. It didn't make sense to Atem why the detective was so against, well pretty much anything he wanted. It was almost as if he didn't want puzzles to be solved.

With a lifetime of experience talking back to people, Atem however just parried back, "Then bring it up with him and let him make the call."

"Atem," the detective said, as if saying the name was enough to dissuade him.

"Look, my point is valid and it might save both of us time and effort in the long run," Atem calmly pointed out.

"Fine, but you better make it worth it," the detective said, dissatisfaction never leaving his tone. "I'll get someone to search the houses again per your request."

* * *

Atem was deep in thought trying to decode the rope puzzle when a policeman came to the door and gave him two files that held the data requested. Which was great really, because he was sick of getting nowhere with this stupid line puzzle thing.

The floorplans of the house of the pool puzzle fell into Atem's vision and it took him a small while to make sense of what he was looking at. On his first reading of the report he remembered it saying that the game room was beside the living room, and in his mind he had literally placed them beside one another. In the floorplans, however, the game room was to the south of the living room, and seeing that relation on a visual level had clicked something in his mind. The positioning of the victim was rather awkward in the sense that the lazy-boy chair that the victim was shot in was facing diagonally southeast towards the tv, but the body was facing southward and slightly to the west. It might have been unnoticeable in person, but in the overhead view of the floorplan, it was quite visible that the victim was facing southwards, towards the game room. A light bulb in Atem lit in realization. He might have been on the verge of a breakthrough and excitement welled tentatively in him. If the wall between the living room and the game room were removed, then the alignment of the victim's gaze was directed right on the pool table. And if he made a straight line from the three left hand pockets of the pool table and directed that line northwards, it would have almost intersected with the victim's face. There was a very big chance that the victim's mouth was actually the 7th pool pocket. And if that were the case, he had a gut feeling that his simulation would this time work.

He needed to verify the exact location of the mouth first though. The precise nature of the killer made Atem sure that if the victim's mouth was where it was supposed to be, then he would know without a doubt he was on the right track.

Almost unable key to redial on his cell phone from the shaking of his hand, Atem re-coordinated himself and dialed the detective. This time the response was fast.

"Detective!" Atem shouted.

"Atem?" the gravellyness of the detective's voice barely went up even in inflection. "Do you have good news?"

"I think I'm onto something. I need to know the exact location of where the victim's head was in the pool case," Atem said, almost rushed. It took him a moment to collect himself. He was almost shocked at how excited he sounded.

"It should be on the floorplans," the detective said quizzically at Atem.

"No, the floorplan is not precise enough," Atem said, this time more like himself. "I need someone to go check. It's important that this is precise."

"All of the floorplan measurements are carefully done Atem," the detective asserted.

"It doesn't show how far off the ground the head is, and if my hypothesis is right, then the floorplan is inaccurate by around 10 centimeters. For my simulation to work, the margin of error can be only around 5 millimeters." Atem frowned into his phone. Maybe the detective couldn't understand how important this was.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but we're understaffed now. I can send someone to go later in the afternoon."

"Ah. A shame," Atem sighed.

There was a pause again in the line, and when the detective spoke again the words came out slower and with a degree of hesitance. "I spoke to the head detective. He's in today so he said he can talk to you whenever he's free."

Atem couldn't believe it. Whatever it was that made the detective against him visiting the crime scene had been evidently pushed aside.

Unable to contain his excitement, Atem gushed, "Ah really!"

"Atem," the detective's said, heavy with warning.

"What is it?" Atem frowned, his tone cutting from having his happiness squashed so easily.

"Nothing," The detective said, and hung up.

* * *

It took about an hour of Atem sitting uselessly at his desk, shuffling around and occasionally looking at the clock, until he felt he was ready to visit the head detective and got up to leave. For some reason his dignity compelled him to wait. Normally Atem paid little attention to those type of minutia of human interaction, but this time running immediately up to a man who was too busy to freely give time of day to anyone reeked of eager desperation.

The head detective's office was on the third floor, the highest floor of the building where all the high ranking officers were placed. This floor was noticeably nicer, the doors were made of a deep varnished wood with frosted glass panels inlaid and metal nameplates that solidified the permanence and importance of each officer's station.

Atem knocked on the head detective's door, and entered the room after he heard an enthusiastic 'enter!' come from the interior. The head detective's office was surprisingly not very different from the detective's Maguro's office. Aside from the greater number of windows that let in more light, the colour scheme and design of the two offices were the same. Any extra space that might have existed in the higher rank office was filled instead with shelves and shelves of books and loose leaf papers stacked on level surfaces and filled into nooks and crannies.

Within the mess of papers was the head detective only visible once Atem leaned to the side and saw a small middle aged man typing intently into an out of date laptop. The man was old, rather slight, rather unimpressive and had a flimsy quality that didn't seem to command respect.

Seemingly satisfied with whatever he finished writing, the head detective met Atem's gaze and smiled jovially.

"Come in, come in," the head detective said, transforming into a lively old man, "What are you standing there for? There's a seat right there for you." When Atem turned a chair had appeared that he had somehow missed before. He sat down obediently keeping a careful eye on the other man who had both elbows on the table in front of him and folded his hands together.

He didn't wait for Atem's response, merely continued when the younger man had finally settled. "Maguro told me that you want to go to the crime scenes."

"Yes," Atem said.

"It was my idea to bring you on despite Maguro's hesitations," the head detective said, leaning towards Atem.

"Oh. I did not know."

"You do know, there's a big chance that the solutions of the puzzles will do nothing to lead us to the killer," the older man said, resting back now his expression deepening to a frown.

"I'm aware."

"I have nothing against putting you in as a civilian specialist, but Maguro on the other hand..."

"Why is he so against me going on the crime scene," Atem frowned. It wasn't like they were asking him to jump in front of bullets or chase down suspects.

"He didn't tell you?" the head detective raised his eyebrows.

"No."

Flattening his mouth to a straight line then pursing them together in thought, the head detective spoke, "He thinks the killer is too intelligent to put anything self incriminating into the puzzles. The puzzles are a vanity thing to see if anyone can solve them."

"..Ah," Atem said, unable to make a voice a thought from the old man's revelation.

"Maguro doesn't want the killer to know about your existence"

"Why not?"

"I don't know. Maguro might not be the smartest detective out there, but he's a detective because of his good instincts. He thinks nothing good can come out of an intelligent serial killer discovering someone as intelligent as them. And I'm likely to agree." The old man leaned back and shrugged in a gesture of helplessness after he had spoken.

"I see." Atem said, schooling his face to neutral. It was an angle he hadn't considered, but to him it seemed overly cautious and neurotic to jump to such a conclusion.

"I can't in full awareness allow to send someone as promising as you into danger."

"Maybe nothing will come from the puzzles, but there is a chance that it might reveal information the killer didn't intend," Atem said, trying to push the conversation more into his favour.

"There is always that possibility. But there is always the possibility of catching the killer without the puzzles."

"That's true." Although Atem didn't want to consider the thought, it was very true. The puzzles could simply be a child's game.

"What do you think Atem?"

"I don't see why the killer would be concerned about who solves their puzzles."

"You think we're being overly cautious?" the head detective asked, raising his eyebrows.

"That's not for me to say. I just don't see the difference working here or at the crime scene except it takes longer to do it at the station," Atem said carefully, trying to hide his discomfort.

"So are you saying you cannot work within the restrictions that Maguro put on you?"

"I can, it'll be very slow. I'd rather work faster."

"Even if it will put you in danger unnecessarily?" The tone at which the old man asked the question was neither disapproving nor of curiosity.

"Avoiding risk isn't necessarily safer," Atem pointed out, speaking his thoughts too quickly after the older man finished.

"You just avoided answering my question, Atem." the head detective frowned.

"My apologies. I do genuinely believe my last words though."

"Ok. Let me ask this, if you know your actions will put you into danger, why would you still do them?" the old man asked the previous question in a different way.

Atem paused, just long enough for his brain to spin the same response into a better clarified version. "For these particular cases, I don't see one being more dangerous than the other. If the killer wanted to find whoever solved the puzzles, they would probably figure out it's me eventually. It becomes a question of how quickly it'll happen."

"Go on..."

"It's not that I don't see the risks, they're there and very real. I simply don't want to let that fear dictate my behaviour and thoughts. The serial killer is still human. That person is not a god or a monster."

While listening to Atem speak, the old man reclined in his chair and sat with a considering look on his face. Taking his time to collect all of Atem's points and to digest them fully, a long pause hung in the air until the old man decided to speak. "So you would intentionally put yourself into danger to prove something to yourself."

"I would not put what I'm doing in those terms," Atem said.

"It's one thing to be brave and another to be stupid, Atem," the old man said as a warning, but there was no threat in the lightness of his words.

"Sometimes it's hard to make that distinction, I agree." A small part in Atem's mind rallied at the not-so-subtle jab that was made towards him, but he squelched the thought while in the presence of someone who was making a critical decision for him.

"And in this case you think you're being more brave than stupid."

"I do."

"Very well, Atem." the old man leaned forward in his seat and folded his hands together. "I'll think about it." The way that the old man's furrowed his brows and was in deep thought meant he was reconsidering his previous position. There was a high chance, Atem thought, that permission would be granted to him.

* * *

The policeman that Atem was paired up with wasn't exactly young but the way he casually laid his arm across Atem's backrest and spoke in a lazy drawl had a deceptive way of hiding his real age. He wasn't good looking or anything either. There was an ease that relaxed the lines of his mediocre features which somehow blended naturally with the greying flecks of white around his temples. The comfort he exuded belied long years of experience in the force, but his easy charm indicated that the time he served did little to alter his personality.

"Come on," officer Nakamura said, passing the yellow police tape and tilting his head towards the front door of the white bricked house where the 2nd murder took place. He was already at the door when Atem had just stepped out of the car and was double checking if everything was properly attached to his body. As a condition for being allowed to visit the crime scenes, Atem had to hide any sort of visible feature that would distinguish him, including his typical clothing, his hair and wear thick rimmed glasses to hide his eyes.

Atem barely had any time to survey the bland suburban neighborhood, and he rushed after the officer through the door.

All of the excitement that he felt leading up to this moment, from the moment he was told he finally got the clearance to visit the crime scene, through the eternally long drive spent in anticipation, had finally narrowed into a single point of disappointment once he went into the house and stood in its presence. Atem wasn't sure what he was expecting exactly. In his imagination, there was more mystery, more suspense, a greater sense of discovery, which probably had all been wiped out from his foreknowledge of all the important details of the case. Instead, he was standing in the aftermath of the investigation. The victim's body was long gone from the scene, all of the important artifacts were searched through with a fine tooth comb and carted off to evidence. What was left was a gutted house heavy with the smell of liberally applied cleaning fluid. Although the house was thoroughly cleaned, it did not fully cover the smell of death, nor erase the lingering traces of rot that crept under the paint and seeped into the drywall.

This was a reality he didn't anticipate but would have to deal with. He and the officer set to work measuring the pool table and the hypothetical location of the 10 ball in the victim's mouth. The distance of the ball from the floor was close to the height of the pool table. And to Atem's expectation and relief, the distance of the ball from the pool table was so close to rounding up to a whole meter unit that there was no doubt it was the intended measurement for the killer.

Everything was coming together. Atem rubbed his hands together in anticipation and opened his laptop. Now all he had to do was alter the simulation so that instead of there being only 6 pockets, it counted the victim's mouth at the 7th one. Then a few parameters had to be changed and otherwise he was set. Since the requirements of this simulation were much tighter than the last, it would probably take no more than 15 minutes to run this one.

Satisfied with the expected results of his compile, Atem looked around wondering where he could place his laptop. The floor would have been a bad idea, and he didn't know what exactly he was allowed to touch.

"Uh, Nakamura-san, is there some place i can put my laptop?" Atem asked, too distracted to realize that he was sounding a bit hopeless and cute.

"When i said to not touch anything you really took it seriously," the officer said, smirking cheekily then waved his hand towards the general direction of the kitchen. "You can put your laptop on the kitchen table."

Atem went off to set his laptop up on the kitchen table and shortly later returned to the living room. In the time it took for the simulation to run, he and the officer searched the house again for any sort of clues. By the time the simulation was finished, their search came up with nothing, but something had finally gone right. The results that were spit out by the computer were more than perfect. According to the simulation, only one possible game scenario was possible. The original location of the 10 ball after it was broken yielded only one location and it was left untouched by the other balls throughout the whole game until it was sunk into the 7th pocket. There were two angles of interest in the scenario, the angle of the cue ball when it hits the 10 ball and the angle of the 10 ball when it rolls into the 7th pocket. Those angles would be the key to the puzzle, and it remained to be seen how they fit into everything.

Assuming that the line the cue ball made on the 10 ball shot projected straight off the table, it would hit a point on the wall of the game room. He and the officer examined the point on the wall to no avail. Maybe they would have to open the wall up Atem thought, but not before they examined the living room first. If the line was elongated so it went straight through the wall into the living room, the point that it hit on the living room wall was nearly at a corner. Although the point in the wall looked indistinct and seamless as one flat surface, when the officer knocked at that particular spot, a strange and metallic sound returned. Surprised, they looked for a seam, or some sort of mechanism so that they could get into the wall but nothing like it was found. After a lengthy struggle, they had finally found four sliding locks, two under the molding at the bottom and two at the top under the trimmings. Once the locks were open, a large panel of wall was peeled off, revealing a small 30cm safe nestled cozily off to the side.

Oh no, not another puzzle, Atem internally groaned, having gone through so many safe puzzles in his life that his mind couldn't have helped but to assume there was another obstacle. But Atem had realized he got ahead of himself right when he pulled the safe handle and the door flung open, slamming into the wall from the unexpected force and weight. The killer was oddly merciful, if that was the right term, in making it so that the safe was unlocked although the same could not be said for what was left inside the safe. Whatever was originally stored in it had long since been emptied, leaving nothing but a piece of paper inside.

The officer took the paper out and he and Atem both tilted their heads to get a better angle of view. On the paper was a thin single line border, rounded at the corners and incomprehensible text inside which had written on it,

2 kno three plus s plus 3 c arrow k two s plus n two plus 3 co two

The text made absolutely no sense and the both of them knew it. Of course the killer wouldn't have ended it right there Atem realized and rubbed his tired head. The killer was an asshole after all, which translated to sheer unpleasantness flowing into every aspect of whatever they touched. If Atem hadn't spent the whole day spinning his wheels, maybe he would have had the presence of mind to make sense of the code but at that point his mind ground to a screeching halt and any thought he attempted to fill his mind with would evaporate into nothing.

Without any of them noticing, the night had deepened the dark tones in the room to shadows. If Atem wanted to get home at a reasonable time, they would have to leave soon. Without any confidence that he had all of the necessary pieces to solve the puzzle, Atem ordered the officer to go through one last check through the house for missing clues.

Searching through the house was a lot more tedious than Atem had thought. It was sort of like trying to find house keys for a house that wasn't his. But actually, nobody really knew what they were searching for at all, for all they knew they were really seeking a remote. And to make things worse, there was so much useless crap he had to go through, stuff that people saved for no reason other than to make Atem's life hard. Eventually, Atem came to a display shelf that stored china in the top half and trophies in the second half. He examined each plate one by one and came upon nothing. Then he searched through the trophies, one by one. An odd trophy that had a circular base instead of a rectangular one caught his eye and Atem examined it more carefully, looking at it from odd angles. On the bottom of that particular trophy was a sticker with an image of the world globe and a spider net on top of it that somehow inserted the thought of the internet into his mind. He was about to return it to it's original spot when he noticed that the inscription of the trophy was dated at 1974. The web sticker might have be placed recently given that the internet existed but wasn't in widespread use then. Maybe there was something relevant about this trophy Atem thought, and called the police officer to report his findings. Smiling helplessly, the police officer showed up empty handed, having come up with nothing on his part of the search.

They had achieved more than what was expected during the visit. Taking one last look at the nondescript white house in the muted darkness of the night, Atem and his partnered police officer left the scene feeling haunted and dissatisfied.

The rest of the week passed as a blur, its contents and happenings only barely recognizable to Atem. He hardly had any time to visit the police station, recently being forced to discover the fine art of last minute cramming and brute force memorization for last minute pop quizzes. Then it was a big family celebration for one of Atem's long distant but for some reason super important relative that he had to drop everything for in order to attend. Maybe his schedule would have kept the same frantic pace forever, but the momentum was abruptly stopped by a murder which rocked the city to its core. Domino city's own homegrown pop star, Ritsuka Takeguchi was found dead in her high-rise mansion. Fear had taken a grip over the city, and Atem found himself suddenly relieved of the pressing demands of obligations as the collective frantically tried to deal with the shock of the news. With the free time that was suddenly thrust upon him, Atem found himself comforting Joey, then Yugi, supporting their grief wracked bodies and rubbing calming circles into their shoulders.

Ritsuka Takeguchi made her debut when they were all in high school, that sugary brand of hyperactive pop music had filled the airwaves and the conscious of the younger generation. She was Yugi and Joey's first gateway into sexuality, the first glimpse into the wonder of and mystique of the opposite sex in all its unattainable glory. As the woman who carved herself into unmarked adolescent territory for Joey and Yugi, they held a fondness for her that stayed imprinted despite finding and experiencing real relationships of their own.

Atem, unlike Joey and Yugi went through no such thing and felt no shock or surprise at the news. He only felt a deep sadness and confusion as to whether the murder was connected to the serial killer. There was a big chance that the connection was there, and the police chose to withhold the information to prevent public outrage. Atem wondered when he had gotten so used to the idea of death. It was the third death this week, and unlike most normal people who quietly hoped that the killings would simply go away, Atem couldn't help but think the serial killer won't stop unless it was by force. So he ground his heart and prepared his mind for the consecutive bad news that would surely follow.

Atem was so focused on murders and puzzle solving that almost anything else aside from his studies got his attention. What managed to take Atem by surprise was a call that he received while he was walking to lecture by an unlisted number. The frenzy of the last few days and excitement of progress in the puzzles had made Atem totally forget about Seto Kaiba until he reared his ugly head once again in the form of a kindly HR lady who represented Kaiba Corp.

It was a call for first round interviews for the personal assistant job position. More than surprised, Atem politely declined the job interview but the HR lady didn't gracefully accept his rejection.

"That is a shame," she said, her kindly feminine voice oozing of professional sincerity, "but would you be able to reconsider? The CEO himself had expressed a personal interest in meeting you."

The words had managed to take Atem by surprise so much that he stood in shock trying to make sense of what the woman had just said. Seto Kaiba must have read his application, so Joey must have- Atem's eyes widened at the realization of all the things that happened away from his presence. What did Seto Kaiba see exactly that got his interest? The thought had filled Atem with a combination of dread and another indistinguishable feeling that made his heart beat wildly against his ribcage.

Atem had no idea how long he was unresponsive until he finally acknowledged the HR lady trying to get attention. "Hello?" she asked, "Should I take that as a no?"

Atem almost fumbled in a panic and blurted out, "Yes! I mean yes. I'll come to see him."

In an odd daze, Atem took down all of the pertinent interview information and hung up the phone.

He just realized what he had done once the haze lifted and he was back in the buzzing corridor of his school walkway. With everything going on in his life and the practical impossibility of taking on an extra job should have been enough reason for him to decline the interview. But one little sign of interest had completely turned him around to change his mind. Was he ever so capricious to the whims of another person? He didn't even bother to answer that question, because apparently it was an evident and resounding yes. Atem found himself not even moments later trying to decide what he would wear to the interview.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: ugh. I had a hard time deciding whether or not redo the end bits of the last chapter but I decided not to cuz I really want kaiba to make an appearance and 18k words of an absence of one partner no matter how many times he's referenced is too long for my tastes in what is really a yaoi fic.

I originally wanted kaiba to be a bit more manipulative/sexy, but nah, he's just an asshole here XD; Writing Kaiba is really hard. And ugh, it's hard to write Atem with Kaiba because it feels like such an emotionally charged mindgame. lskdjflksjdf.

Atem is a bit naive in this AU because his upbringing is rather normal. His friends influence him to be more of a goof, and kaiba will influence him in other directions. But any sort of reservations and carefulness Atem exhibits is due to his personality rather than experience.

Oh. And one last thing. A very big theme to me in prideshipping is how intensely Atem/Yami and Kaiba look at each other. To me their relationship has a very scary combination of intensity, caution and honesty.

* * *

The last time Atem last looked at himself in the full body mirror must have been months ago, in the form of a passing glance more for the sake of accounting for proper appearance rather than vanity. Atem had hardly considered himself a vain person, but the way he couldn't take his eyes off his reflection in the mirror for the last hour was seriously making himself reconsider that notion. He was a damn good looking man and that personal assessment of his went doubly so whenever he dressed in formal wear. The straight lines of well fitted suits complemented his angular and clean features. His normal punk clothing was bulky and intimidating, whereas the cleaner lines of a suit more effectively accentuated his good posture and grace.

Atem's problem wasn't looking good. His problem was trying to find something that was both good looking and work appropriate. Almost everything he wore was too formal, and he couldn't help but think the look belonged more in a host club rather than an office building. Atem turned 30 degrees to the right and scrutinized his profile. He looked a bit too bulky with this particular jacket. It will have to go off. Finally settling for a duller look than he desired, Atem decided to go simple and wore a halfsleeve white shirt with fitted grey slacks and a thin studded belt.

The next 30 minutes Atem spent deliberating on whether the outfit was too dull. Something made him recoil against the idea of being underdressed in the presence of Seto Kaiba, even though intellectually it made more sense to be underdressed than overdressed. Atem had no idea why this was such an important point aside from the mild discomfort he felt with addressing the taller man as a superior. To be honest, he had no idea why he cared in the first place. In a professional venue, hierarchies had to be respected. And this job interview hypothetically wouldn't have to involve power lobbying or interpersonal complications because Atem had no intent to take the job.

But any of these points hardly mattered because acknowledging them did nothing to stop Atem from scrutinizing his reflection from various angles and positions. He was so engrossed with his own reflection that he barely noticed when Yugi walked in through his open door and stole at glance at him.

Tilting his head on one side, then the other, Yugi said, "looking good Atem."

"Ah. Thanks," Atem responded, still occupied with the mirror.

"Have you been looking at yourself all morning?"

"Not all morning. A good portion of it though," Atem said and winked at Yugi.

Scrunching his face while observing Atem's rather unusual behaviour, Yugi was confused. "Are you dressing up like that to impress Seto Kaiba? Do you even know if you're going to see him today?"

"Not to impress him. To stand shoulder to shoulder with him." Atem said, sorting through a box of jewelry. He retrieved a stack of silver bracelets and looped them onto both of his wrists. "So Yugi, do you think silver bracelets make me look girly?"

"I honestly don't know," Yugi said, trying to figure out how the addition of bracelets did anything to change Atem's appearance.

"Hnnnn." Atem surveyed his reflection and stood back for better perspective. Deciding that there were too many, he took off all but two bracelets that rested loosely on his right wrist. Without the extra jewelry he felt naked, but it was better than nothing. Intuitively Atem felt like tasteful conservatism was more appropriate in a corporate setting and should go that route, no matter how uncomfortable he felt with blending in. Hopefully his appearance was enough to do the talking.

"Why did you decide to go in the first place? Weren't you against this whole thing?" Yugi asked, the confusion still written all over his face.

"Curiosity," Atem said.

"Huh?

"Seto Kaiba said he wanted to meet me," Atem responded, jangling the bracelets to gauge their weight and comfort.

"Seriously? Wow. Do you think he's interested?" Yugi widened his eyes in surprise, obvious from the knowing smile that his thoughts were leading him in the direction of attraction and romance.

Atem paid no mind to his friend and focused on his appearance. "He's interested in something. And I won't know what it is unless I talk to him."

"I was surprised you got an interview though. Considering..." Yugi said, the volume of his voice tapered off into nothing.

Atem was accustomed to Yugi sometimes fading off in serious conversations, but they rarely ended with the word 'considering'. Yugi had voiced his thoughts without thinking it through completely. "Considering what?" Atem said and turned to address Yugi, not allowing the topic to die.

"Ah?" Yugi looked up at Atem with a look of mild alarm though it was barely noticeable. Like Yugi, Atem mastered the fine art of Yugi reading and could only come up with one conclusion considering the context.

"You were there with Joey when he sent the application weren't you," Atem said, his voice low and careful as if he didn't know how to come to terms with Yugi's betrayal.

Yugi for his part played the guilty party all too well and just stammered an "uhh." while looking woefully at Atem.

"Yugi, tell me what Joey wrote," Atem said in warning to Yugi.

"Sorry, I can't." Yugi helplessly said, hands up in surrender.

"Why not?"

"I... pinky swore." Yugi looked down bashfully.

"Yugi. Tell. Me." Atem grounded, feeling guilty for pushing his sensitive friend, but sometimes these things had to be done.

"...sorry Atem." Yugi frowned apologetically.

"Aren't we soul mates? You can't hold back on me like this Yugi," Atem said, still operating in a suspended state of disbelief.

"Sorry Atem, pinky swears override soul mate on the hierarchy of promises," Yugi said, helplessly bound to strange interpersonal tribal laws.

Atem thumped his fist on the mirror frame in indignant acceptance. Yugi was right, pinky swears were law. They were not to be messed with.

"Fine, I'll find out soon enough," Atem shrugged and put on a tailor fitted peacoat jacket.

"Atem, If you keep frowning like that, your face will freeze in that position." Yugi walked up to Atem and stretched out his hands to both of Atem's cheeks and massaged them, pulling them upwards so that his mouth resembled the shape of a duck's beak.

A bit startled by the proximity, Atem said, "Well good. It'll be the eternal proof of your horrible horrible betrayal," as sarcastically as possible.

But instead of getting Yugi's typical reaction, his eyes fell upon hearing Atem's words and a solemn look washed over his face. He looked up at Atem with eyes glassy and wet from an emotion Atem couldn't place. "Nothing is eternal Atem."

Atem wanted to say something, anything to erase that look from Yugi's face. He wanted to say he was being sarcastic and that nothing Yugi ever did was a betrayal, but the words died in his mouth because what Yugi was sad about was something deeper than he could possibly understand.

So Atem smiled ruefully.

"That's better," Yugi said, and patted Atem's cheek.

"Well, I'll be going now," Atem said, unsure if it was ok to leave in such a delicate situation. If he didn't leave soon he would miss the train that went straight to Kaiba Corp. But leaving like that just then felt wrong. He felt like he was heading into the start of something he couldn't quite comprehend, and his only safety net was flowing away from him. Yugi's reaction meant he felt it too. Unable to do much else, Atem pulled Yugi into a hug and buried his face into warmth and soft cotton of Yugi's shoulder.

After a short while, Atem pulled away and the two looked at each other, now reconnected. Taking a lingering glance backwards before heading out, Atem was almost at the door when Yugi stopped him.

"Atem," Yugi said.

"Hm?" Atem turned back.

"Whatever Joey wrote in the application is not a lie."

* * *

The Kaiba Corp building that stood in front of Atem was everything and nothing he ever expected it to be. It stretched as far as the eye could see into the cloudless deep blue sky, impressive and imposing, monopolizing space on a large stretch of cultivated land untouched by the bustle of the city. If the building wasn't impressive itself from its sheer size, it had nothing on the fine details and pleasing architecture. Atem didn't think that a building would have ever had the power to strike such a powerful impression, the only word that could fairly describe it was perfection. The level of design and architecture was unfittingly world class for a small cozy city like Domino. It was no wonder that Kaiba Corp. was such an internationally renown company.

Gripping the handle of his handbag tighter, Atem steeled his courage and walked towards the building, strode along the long walkway and through the automatic glass doors. The interior of the Kaiba Corp. building was just as impressive as the exterior. Almost everything was either made of glass or metal or some sort of high quality reflective material that littered beautiful light patterns across clean surfaces and gave a futuristic feel to the antiseptic and wide open spaces of the lobby. Atem walked up to the flat chrome information desk staffed by a pretty young woman who looked at him with barely an expression and called another young woman who creepily could have passed as her twin to escort him to the meeting room.

The walk to the meeting room was unnerving. The woman walked with such a steady speed and held almost no trace of natural human emotional response that she could have been mistaken for a robot.

After depositing Atem into a waiting room, the woman made a deep bow and left. With nothing but his thoughts and anxiety, Atem breathed in and closed his eyes. Like interview courtesy demanded, he arrived to the building 15 minutes early. That extra time he had to spend waiting was going to fuel his doubts and anxieties even more. In the oppressive emptiness of the entirely spotless waiting room, Atem felt like he had little room to budge or fidget, constricting him to sit still with his thoughts.

Atem didn't agree with it though. If Kaiba Corp was flawless and rigid perfection, then Yugi and the Game Shop was freedom and joy. No matter how powerful and appealing perfection might have been, Atem would always take Yugi. Perfection, even in its best forms was an illusion after all, and realistically unattainable. Everything about Kaiba Corp was designed for a purpose and Atem knew that he had to be actively aware of his surroundings to resist its temptations and flow.

Which Atem found extremely difficult to consciously remember at that particular point because the waiting room door had swung open and the wholly appealing form of Seto Kaiba came into view. The man's presence radiated power and demanded respect, having a genetically fortunate physique and remarkable confidence which no doubt fed into his ability to make such a striking impression.

The man locked eyes with Atem, and Atem stood up in time so that he would meet Kaiba standing when he came in front of him.

"Atem Sennen," the man said, his voice criminally low and smooth, almost unfair in its combination of beauty and masculinity.

"Yes." Atem responded, holding back on addressing Seto Kaiba by name.

The man stuck his hand out and Atem half a moment later brought his own hand up to shake it in a smooth motion. Although it was not uncommon for younger companies to start adopting western practices, Atem had thought a company as old as Kaiba Corp would stick to its more antiquated roots and practices. So bowing was beneath Seto Kaiba was it? Atem thought in interest.

Immediately after, Kaiba made a motion to move into another room and Atem followed.

Trailing behind the taller man, Atem reorganized his thoughts. So this was Seto Kaiba. His actual physical presence was a lot more dominating than Atem had anticipated, one that was so overpowering that Atem paid little attention to his face. From his view from behind, he could tell that the suit Kaiba was wearing was extremely expensive. Although the style of suit was very traditional, the way that the cloth moved and hung in all the right places was evidence enough that the material and cut were top notch. Atem's choice for his own conservative style was the right choice in response to Kaiba's traditional attire.

They entered a large room with a long table lined with plush black chairs on each side. Kaiba sat on the first chair of the row and looked at the chair across from him. "Take a seat."

Atem sat in the chair never taking his careful gaze off of Kaiba. He sat down never faltering in confidence nor displaying any sign of weakness.

Giving one last look of appraisal at Atem, Kaiba finally spoke. "I have no interest in conducting a formal interview so I'll get to the point. I'm looking for a personal secretary. You're unavailable on weekdays I know. However Kaiba Corp offices are open on weekends and I need someone to fill that position those days."

Atem took in the spoken words of the man across from him. The CEO's manner of speech was rather brusque and harsh, deviating slightly from Atem's original impression. Spinning his wheels, he gave a response quick enough to avoid an unnatural pause in the pace of the conversation.

"I'm not sure how fit you think I am for this job. The application was sent to you without my knowledge."

"I am fully aware of that. But it does little to change my curiosity." Kaiba leaned into the backrest of his chair, one hand on armrest, cross-legged in a position of comfort and authority. Atem did not mirror the other man's actions and stayed in his alert pose.

"Curiosity? How so?" Atem raised an eyebrow.

"Almost all of the resumes Kaiba Corp receives is judged initially by sophisticated AI. One of the biggest requirements is how much useful data a candidate can communicate as concisely as possible. Your application," Kaiba said, smoothly pulling a sheet of paper out of his clipboard and laying it on the table, "ranked the highest according to the computer.

Unbelievable. It was almost outrageous Atem thought dryly, that the only thing Joey seemed to have outclassed the competition in was his ability to trick a computer.

The sheet was too far for Atem to see the text, so he didn't bother to look at it. "If I had written the resume myself it would have been like all the others."

"You still succeeded in getting my attention." Kaiba said and tapped the armrest casually.

"Even if that may be true, a resume that is not written by me will not properly represent my intents and capabilities," Atem pointed out, trying to distance himself from whatever outrageous thing that Joey put on the application.

"Don't be so sure about that. Sometimes a little conveys a lot." And the line of Kaiba's mouth curved up minutely in a mocking smirk, the first change of expression Atem noticed instead of the look of aloof displeasure that the CEO normally wore.

Disturbed by the sudden change Atem said a bit forcefully, "'Ultimately, it is up to you to make your own conclusions about the information you receive. Assuming things incorrectly is at your own peril."

From across the table Atem saw that the smirk had disappeared into aloofness again and no response was forthcoming from the other man. Having finished his say, Atem was forced to move the conversation along, and he spoke with veiled displeasure. "I suggest we carry on with this interview."

The other man simply looked at Atem and spoke.

"I have little doubt in your intellectual abilities. Not many people can do a major in computer engineering and minor in anthropology and pull top scores, although the feat itself is rather unremarkable." Kaiba said rather blandly. "I wanted to meet you in person to see if your personality was suited for the position.

Seeing that again, Kaiba was waiting for a response, Atem was forced to move the conversation by saying the only thing that came to mind that suited the brusque personality of the CEO.

"No matter what people like to say, an interview is a test. So go ahead and see if I meet your requirements."

The response must have been the right one Atem thought, since he caught a flash of light across the CEO's otherwise unchanging eyes. Kaiba tilted his head back and tapped the paper in front of him two times before refocusing his gaze directly to Atem.

"In total your resume was 8 lines. 6 of the lines were headings and education. Your mission statement proclaims that you seek to make me the happiest man on earth. So Atem," this time his smirk grew wider and more amused, "how do you propose to do that?"

So it finally came out. The outrageous thing Joey wrote. The same thing that got Kaiba's attention and brought him to the seat he was sitting in right now. It took incredible self control for Atem not to visibly react to the words, only slightly aided by his already guarded state caused by the dangerous man in front of him. He wanted to grab the piece of paper in front of him to see if it was true, to call Kaiba a liar, and to run out of the interview never to face the infuriating man who was openly mocking him for his weakness. Atem couldn't though. The force that was causing his shame was the source of an even bigger force that compelled him to stand his ground to play the game to its bitter conclusion.

Atem didn't know how long the pause of silence stretched before he answered. Only that Kaiba was looking at him waiting for a response. "That line was not written by me, so honestly I have no intent nor the knowledge in how to make you happy," Atem said, his voice betraying none of his feelings.

He couldn't figure out Kaiba's motive for bringing up the question. Was it to see how he would react to emotionally sensitive information? Any sort of conclusion Atem came to thrust the CEO into a rather negative light.

The interview continued without any regard for Atem's internal thoughts. "Then as an employee, how would you make me happy?"

"I assume by fulfilling my roles to your satisfaction," Atem said, refocusing his attention on the other man.

"Would you be skilled enough to meet my rather harsh expectations,' Kaiba said, the mirth still colouring his features.

"I would not know until I knew what those expectations were."

"But you are confident in your skills."

"Of course."

"Good because on your resume, it is written here under skills," Kaiba paused, just long enough to send a meaningful look at Atem, then continued, 'I am good at everything, and I do mean _everything_'." The smile had returned on Kaiba's face, and Atem steeled himself for some sort of followup innuendo, but thankfully it seemed like the CEO was too professional to go down that avenue. This time the shock of Joey's obnoxious line had less effect, and Atem narrowed his eyes and faced Kaiba.

"I'm sure I don't have to repeat myself..."

"Yes. that you didn't write this." Kaiba said dismissively then looked at Atem. "It's nice to know however there's some truth in the words."

Unable to encourage or flat out deny any of the CEOs assertions, and unable to control the flow of the interview, Atem had enough of willingly exposing himself to this treatment.

"Is that all you want to know?" Atem sat up straight and demanded, his posture and tone clearly communicating his desire to end the interview.

"I think so. I have just one more question." Kaiba said, tilting his head to the side, back to his original expression of boredom.

"What is it"

"What's the real purpose of your friend sending me this application." Tapping the paper, Kaiba shot a glance at Atem as an implicit command to answer his question.

"It was a joke." Atem responded, stifling his urge to cross his arms to protect himself.

"I figured that out. What is the nature of the joke." Kaiba demanded.

"That is personal."

"If it is a personal matter, then your friend dragged me right into it. I have a right to know." Without changing his tone or demeanor, Kaiba pressed his advantage.

"Then take it up with him." Atem parried back, unwilling to give in.

"But it would please me more to hear it from you." Kaiba's voice had dropped a tone and took on a sickingly sweet and cloying quality to it.

Atem had enough. Squaring his shoulders, he faced Kaiba with a stony regard that hid his disgust, disappointment, and the hundreds of other feelings swirling inside him. In a measured tone, low and careful, he spoke. "If you really can't guess from the context, and this is an attempt to get me to explicitly spell it out for humiliation, then you are insulting both our intelligence and wasting time."

At Atem's response, Kaiba's expression lowered into guarded thinking. Nothing in the CEO's outward appearance had changed, the only telling indication that Atem's words had some effect was the pause that hung unnaturally in the air. The space between him and Kaiba was thick and charged with an energy that he couldn't understand or pinpoint. Within that space, he could almost swear he could see the gears clicking and shifting in his opponent's mind at lighting quick speed, crunching all the important points of the interview.

Finally, Kaiba stood up and said without any ceremony,

"You got the job Atem. You have two weeks to accept."


	6. Chapter 6

AN: this might be a boring part again XD; Well, I am learning what makes writing good and realizing that I can't really do it. Maybe it will be better with the next story because bleh, i'm still trying to figure out what to reveal, what order to do it, and how to deal with necessary story building but make things interesting. so difficult.

i'm one of those people who have tons of ideas but never bothered to execute them. because of the ideas are so plentiful, writing fast and learning to internalize interesting writing practices is more important than having something well thought out and solid. That's why I always feel like a lot of these stories will be rather unreadable until i get to a point of knowing how to narrate properly.

So for those of you still reading, I think you are troopers and I appreciate whoever puts up with my indulgent brand of writing.

* * *

It had been so long since Atem's last visit to the police station that the sight of the building had become unfamiliar to him. Its previous charm had altogether disappeared, the poor maintenance and cheap material of the building became more evident, exposed in harsh sunlight. Compared to the dizzying perfection of the main Kaiba corp office that he had just left, abruptly entering the such a contrasting world of the police station was disorienting. Then sitting with the detective and taking in all of the news he missed only added to that sense of disorient. As Atem suspected, the latest celebrity death was at the hands of the serial killer after all, totaling the current murder count to 3. The extra news didn't just stop there, with revealed extra findings in both the rope and pool table puzzles.

Unable to handle more than one thought at once, Atem opted to work on the remainder of the pool case. In his absence, officer Nakamura had made some headway into the case, but lamentably needed Atem's expertise to finish the puzzle to its final conclusion. What the officer discovered was that the odd code found in the safe was the chemical formula for black gun powder and a website.

It was at that particular point of discovery that Atem found himself back in the puzzle room, sitting uninspired in front of his laptop that was on the website revealed by the trophy. The origin of the website url discovered by the officer was the letters カニジン found on the underside of the sticker on the trophy. Translated into english the japanese was 'crab team' and thus made the longform url .

All of that hard work they went through and they only had the website and black gun powder formula to show for it. Despite Atem's best efforts the webpage revealed absolutely no extra information and was near impossible to hack. The possibility of other pages existing in the domain was the only lead left. Without any straightforward instructions, finding the right page was blind guesswork. Atem tried almost everything he could think of, black gun powder, the 10 ball, all of the relevant discoveries in the case, but nothing worked.

Was there something that they missed at the house? There had to be some sort of link that went over his head. Atem tried to take a step back and look at the big picture. The most unusual thing about the nature of the puzzles was that they had an oddly personal slant to them. The trophy, the pool table and the safe were all objects related to the victim. In order to make the puzzles to that level of depth and complexity, the killer had to stalk and research the victims.

So was crab team supposed to be a shared thing between the victim and killer? Atem covered his mouth in deep thought and ran with the possibility. No. It couldn't be the case. If the killer harbored a grudge it would seep into every facet of the murder. There was no team. Only crab. The victim died alone and the serial killer acted alone.

Atem rubbed his face and casually typed the url of the site on an offhand idea. At the end of the url he put in '/crab' and pressed the enter key.

To Atem's utmost surprise, the black screen had returned, but the text had entirely changed to the word,

'close!'

Close. Atem stared at the screen in disbelief. He didn't know what was more surreal. His offhand idea actually working, or the enthusiastic exclamation mark at the end of the message. He could almost feel the killer cheering him on and the feeling was uncomfortably exciting and disturbing at the same time.

If not crab, then another nickname Atem thought, spurred by previous success. The victim's name was Jun Oda. Atem typed that name in and as expected, it didn't work. So the next best thing was 'junjun', Atem typed in, remembering the poor sap who had the poor luck of sitting next to Joey in homeroom. After Atem pressed the enter key he held his breath in suspense as the computer hummed and clicked in thought until a small message window popped up with empty user and password fields.

Atem almost laughed at the absurdity. Of course there was something more to solve. The killer wouldn't simply let him have the win until he was forced to jump through every hoop until he was deemed worthy. But at least now he knew what he was looking for. A username and password. On the top of the message window there was a label that said "tries left: 3".

The most obvious user/pass combination would have been 'black powder', but Atem had gotten a good enough grip on the killer's personality to suspect the answer was too unsatisfactory to work. There had to be a more complete answer that went full circle with the crime itself. It had to be related with the 10 ball somehow, the significance of the number had to mean something.

Atem typed in 'black powder 10' on google and lo and behold, a list of 10 gauge shotguns filled the screen, stunning Atem with how conveniently everything was falling into place. A 10 gauge shotgun must have been the murder weapon. The answer was clear as day. All he had to do was get detective Maguro to search for the right shotgun, and it wouldn't be difficult Atem suspected, because the make would most likely coincide with the year 1974. The year in which the victim had won his first pool tournament.

The conversation with Detective Maguro was short and sweet. The gruffy man had promised to compile a list of 10 gauge black powder shotguns made in 1974. Unable to stop the smugness from creeping into his satisfied smile, Atem hung up the phone with a firm press of the end button. The end of the first case was drawing near and even the detective wasn't immune to the excitement, his voice a mixture of gruff delight and caution. Whatever attitude the detective had towards Atem had changed somehow as well. It wasn't exactly describable, but in Atem's optimistic satisfaction dare he say he detected a hint of admiration and respect?

It took a lot faster than Atem expected for the detective to call back with the results. Of the 5 shotgun brands he listed, only one of them, a 'churchill kassnar', had two words, and therefore was the only one suitable as a solution. After the detective showed up to the puzzle room, his breathing uneven from mild exertion, he stood behind Atem, eyes intent on the laptop monitor screen.

Without any delay, Atem typed 'churchill' into the user field and 'kassnar' into the password. After he submitted the query, the computer stalled for a short pause and spit out a large lower case 'e' on the screen. Both Atem and the detective stared at the screen, coming to the same thoughts and conclusions in twin fashion. This single, solitary 'e' was not a good sign. A single letter could have meant a many number of things, but the most obvious was that the 'e' in itself held no helpful information. Most likely the 'e' was part of a greater system of words that would make a phrase. For the phrase to be fully spelled out, a lot more people would have to die.

Celebrations should have been in order with the first puzzle successfully solved. Instead, in the police building where natural light had faded into darkness long ago, they kept on working.

* * *

Atem didn't realize how tired he was until he returned to his apartment, the comfortable warmness and sounds of soft laughter dancing in his ears had unwound his defenses allowing the stings and stresses of the day to permeate throughout his body. The steps he took felt heavier, his bags more inclined to join the ground, though Atem trudged on, so close to his warm inviting bed.

As Atem approached the living, the voices of laughter grew louder. After Atem turned a corner, Yugi and Bakura who were sitting beside each other on a plush sofa came into view.

Once Atem had stepped close enough to them, Yugi raised his head from their conversation.

"Atem you're back!"

"Hi Yugi, Bakura," Atem said.

"Come chat with us for a while, I was telling Bakura about your job interview," Yugi said, shifting over enough so that there was space in between them on the sofa.

Atem smiled gently, though stayed rooted on the spot as a silent decline to Yugi's invitation. He said rather playfully, "do i not strike you as a person who is in dire need of rest."

"Aside from the bags under your eyes and that horrible look of death on your face, no...no you don't," Yugi smiled, to the relief of Atem. It seemed like Yugi was back to his old self.

"How did the interview go? Tell us and then we shall relieve you."

"I'm not exactly sure how it went. I got the job," Atem said.

"Really? So does that mean the interview went well?" Yugi asked enthusiastically.

"No."

"What? What happened?"

Atem frowned and crossed his arms. "He used the silly things Joey wrote in the application as fuel to humiliate me."

"What? Why?" Yugi cried, upset about the revelation far more than Atem, who stayed rather reserved about the whole thing. "Why would he do that then give you a job?"

"I don't know," Atem said.

"You're not going to work for him are you?" Bakura asked.

I don't think I can," Atem said, shrugging off his jacket. "It's a weekend job. And anyway, I don't think I'd want to work under someone like that."

"That's so unfortunate. I'm really sorry," Yugi said, empathy marring his features.

"Thank you. I'm going to go rest now," Atem said, still composed despite his fatigue. "I wish I was able to spend more time with you guys."

"It's cool Atem. Go get sleep!"

Atem nodded and collected his things. Before he had a chance to stalk off into the night, Bakura interrupted the silence.

"Oh Atem? I found something on the internet that might be of interest to you. I sent you the link through email."

Atem nodded and inquired nothing of the topic. "Thanks Bakura."

"Goodnight Atem!" Bakura exclaimed with forced enthusiasm.

"Night you two."

* * *

The link that Bakura sent was very interesting and so very full of juicy information. So interesting in fact that Atem dropped by to the police station in between classes and laid his laptop right in front of detective Maguro, to promote his pet theory.

"It's an interesting suggestion, but I don't think Gozaburo Kaiba's death is related to the serial murders." The detective crossed his arms and sunk back into his chair in contemplation after listening to Atem's wild speculations.

"But the possibility is there," Atem suggested. "The supposed suicide of Gozaburo Kaiba happened only two weeks ago. It's recent enough to fit the timeframe of the murders."

"There was no puzzle found nearby the body," the detective said. "It's a big leap to make the conjecture that a suicide was really a murder, and a serial murder at that."

"The killer had faked a suicide by hanging the student," Atem pointed out, thinking it was a very valid point. "It is just as easy to fake a suicide of a person who jumped off a balcony to his death."

"The room that Gozaburo jumped out of was locked from the inside," the detective answered like one of those kids who had an answer for everything. Just with less snooty arrogance and more gruff.

"That means nothing if the killer was intelligent."

"Atem, as I said before, you're really jumping to conclusions on this," the detective frowned, strangely humoring the discussion in the first place.

"I don't think so," Atem refuted. "How do you know a puzzle didn't exist. Did the police even bother to search carefully the place of impact or the room that Gozaburo jumped from?"

"I assure you that we did."

"Then let me take a look at the car Gozaburo fell on," Atem demanded.

"I'm afraid his son already reclaimed the car. The man fell on his own car and the police saw no reason to hold it."

"It's an important piece of evidence!"

"The chief didn't see it that way," the detective said, staring almost at even level to Atem in his sitting position.

Before Atem was able to come up with a response, the detective continued, "Look, Gozaburo Kaiba was a very paranoid man. There are video surveillance tapes and electronic records of everything that happened in his room right when he fell out of his balcony. He was alone in the room when it happened."

"But there's no footage of the balcony," Atem said.

"No, most likely the man never considered putting a camera there," the detective responded without any hesitance.

"But the balcony was the most crucial spot that needed to be captured," Atem said, frowning in thought. "It's too convenient that there was no camera."

"Atem, it's useless to speculate on the man's choices But according to security, there never was a surveillance camera on the balcony."

"I'm just saying all of the pieces don't fit," Atem said. "Why did the large media outlets totally omit covering the story? There is a fair amount of discussion on the internet, but hardly anybody heard about his death. I wouldn't have known unless it wasn't brought to me."

For every point Atem made, the detective seemed to have a response.

"Look, in this line of work, it's common to hear about stories that are altered or outright ignored by the media for political reasons. Gozaburo's suicide is not an unusual case."

"And it doesn't bother you that some very powerful person thought it was in their interests to keep the story under wraps?" Atem said, the progression of the conversation had set his mouth to a constant frown.

"Kaiba Corporation is a very large company and has ties to the government and mafia. It's not strange that a competitor or enemy would have a political or personal reason to want to hide the news," the detective explained with an uncharacteristic patience.

"And you don't think it's odd that his son took over the company just one week later," Atem said back.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Seto Kaiba would need to be majority shareholder in order to put himself as the CEO," Atem said, noting from a dispassionate viewpoint that the topic of conversation had somehow switched back to the CEO time and time again.

"And he got it."

"But how?" To Atem, that was the key point. From the internet speculation Atem read, there were several accounts of what could have happened.

"I wasn't there so I have the foggiest idea," the detective shrugged. "Weirder things have happened in the business world."

Seemingly tired of humoring Atem, the detective swiveled his chair back towards his desk and glanced at the shorter man as he spoke.

"Look, I'm not saying I totally disagree with you. I'm saying it's highly unlikely. Once you give me evidence I'll bite. But without any, this idle speculation is a waste of time."

"I'm just suggesting that Gozaburo Kaiba being murdered is still a big possibility," Atem said, restating his stance before he was outright dismissed.

"Even counting that, the only person with the technical and intimate knowledge to pull it off was his son, and his son couldn't be the killer." The detective had turned back fully towards Atem, to stress the importance of this point.

"Why is that?" Atem asked, fully curious.

"Seto Kaiba wasn't in the country when his father died."

* * *

Being the civil and respectful young man that he was, Atem did try to see things the detective's way, he surely did. But a lifetime of cautious deliberation and listening to his intuition had always worked in his favour, and that lifetime of success reinforced his confidence in his internal logic. It was why coming out of that discussion with the detective didn't serve to dissuade Atem but rather strengthen his belief that Gozaburo's death was connected to the serial murders. He didn't know why exactly he thought this way. Perhaps his experience with the puzzles acquainted him with the killer's mind, enough to shift his own perceptions and priorities to that of the killer.

At the beginning it didn't occur to Atem that Seto Kaiba was involved in any of this. It was when the detective mentioned the only possible suspect for Gozaburo Kaiba's death was his son that the connection snapped violently into place, asserting its position in the forefront of Atem's thoughts. Independently, the ideas were implausible. Without finding a puzzle in gozaburo's suicide, it was impossible to link the case to the serial murder. Furthermore the notion of a son killing his father was difficult to accept. More impossible given that Seto Kaiba was not in the country at the time. If Atem didn't intimately understand the killer, he wouldn't have believed it himself.

Seto Kaiba as a normal man would not have been able to pull it off, but Seto Kaiba with the sensibilities and cruel intelligence of the serial killer was capable of almost anything. Atem only knew this because he was built from a similar cloth. If Seto Kaiba hated his father enough to murder him, what better way to start the string of murders by making his first death a symbolic one, one that was personally relevant and cruelly satisfying. Atem was 100% confident that a puzzle was left on the crime scene, but it was not discovered, thus destroying any sort of conclusive evidence that gozaburo was murdered. This is what the serial killer Atem knew would have done. He would have laid out the right information in hard to reach places, and mockingly stripped it away afterwards to punish carelessness. If the police knew the suicide was really a murder, they would have been more careful with their search, they would have found the trick the killer used to murder Gozaburo without having to be there. Now the apartment had surely been cleared and the window of opportunity was now gone.

It was a statement by the killer that nobody except for Atem was able to see that said:

_You could have caught me, but you didn't because I know your flaws too well. And now I am free to wreak havoc on the city._

As the days passed, thoughts of Kaiba as the serial murderer stayed in Atem's conscious, making itself known whenever he lapsed out of moments of concentration and distraction. He was still rather functional throughout all this and managed to solve the rope puzzle in a dazzling display of mental agility. Any sort of satisfaction from the success was short lived however, since the killer struck again, this time garnering much less fanfare, but still successful in gripping the city in a vice-like state of fear.

Atem had started subconsciously counting down the days till kaiba's job offer was no longer available, and it wasn't until the thought of accepting the job popped up in his head that the habit became a noticeable action.

By this point, the serial killer and Kaiba dominated almost all of Atem's free thoughts and they came in such different variations that they came and went at their own fancy. His most dominant thought was stopping the serial killer. Once the connection between Seto Kaiba as the serial killer had been made, his careful aloofness and reticence was completely wiped away. Putting a name and face to the killings was enough to fuel Atem's rage and enflame his sense of justice. Oddly enough however, even with Atem's' confidence that Seto Kaiba was the killer, the killer in his mind and the CEO remained two different things. Whenever Atem cursed and raged at the killer, the object of his rage was still an abstract entity, evil and defiled and eternally unredeeming. In those rare instances of personal awareness, Atem wondered why his anger was never totally directed at Seto Kaiba.

Whatever form the aloof CEO resided in Atem's mind always came unexpectedly, in moments when Atem was most stressed and drowning in the pressures of his life. His hand unconsciously struck into his pocket to grasp at Seto Kaiba's business card, and the smooth high quality material soothed him as he traced his fingers over the straight and unmarred corners of the paper. Even after all this time, the card stayed uncreased, perfect, as if it deliberately chose to be untouched by the abuses of the world. Touching the card had always brought the image of Seto Kaiba's face in his mind, still perfect even with that challenging smirk, enticing and dark, promising Atem of things the warmth in his life never allowed him to consider.

These thoughts were so raw and disturbing that Atem chose to ignore them, but they had a lingering effect on his mind. Atem was still a very realistic young man, who was capable of accepting and internalizing different viewpoints. His last conversation with the detective still was fresh in his mind, occasionally reminding him never to dive so deeply into his assumptions. If Atem didn't have any soft feelings for Seto Kaiba, he would have outright ignored the detective. Those undiscovered feelings were so deep however, that they confused him as he tried to regain a grasp on reality.

As the deadline date drew near, the worse it became for Atem.

It was at this juncture of potential insanity that he sat Yugi down, his best and most reliable friend, in the backmost table of their favourite cafe. Sitting close to each other so that their chairs were touching, Atem bent down close to Yugi, and said.

"Yugi, I want to get your advice on something serious. What I'm about to tell you may sound crazy and insane so please bear in mind that whatever I say in this conversation I am saying with full sincerity."

Accustomed to having the occasional serious talk with Atem, Yugi widened his eyes only minutely and his expression changed to mature and serious shortly later.

"I understand Atem. What do you want to say."

Atem closed his eyes, only hesitant because of his awareness of how the words were going to sound. "I'm considering taking the job at Kaiba corp."

Yugi frowned with confusion on his face, so Atem continued to clarify. "I am considering this because a gut feeling tells me Seto Kaiba is the serial killer."

The sounds of the cafe fell between them as it took some time for Yugi to make sense of Atem's sudden confession.

"Are you serious?" he asked, more to test Atem's resolution than to show his disbelief.

"Yes."

There was no room for Yugi to move, so he only tilted his head forward in thought. "Your gut feelings...tend to be accurate Atem. So what advice can I offer you?"

"I need for you to tell me if this is a bad idea or not," Atem said, carefully gauging Yugi's behaviour. "I no longer have a realistic viewpoint to make a sound decision."

Unable to stop himself from stating the obvious, Yugi said, "Isn't this something the police is supposed to handle?"

"My suspicions have no logical grounding," Atem frowned. "It's a feeling. Nothing more."

At Yugi's despondent silence, his expression full of resignation and sadness, Atem couldn't help but justify himself.

"The police do not suspect kaiba and if I don't take this job I will lose a chance to get information on him."

"Do the police know you are doing this?."

"I've told them. They're unhappy because I will have less time for work, but do not take my suggestions about Seto Kaiba seriously."

"Oh, Atem," Yugi sighed. They were sitting close enough that Atem could feel the puff of air that Yugi expelled, along with the aura of disappointment that exuded with it. As much as they were two connected entities, Atem's thoughts were his own and Yugi's kindness was never enough to influence him to change his mind. That kindness only elevated Yugi in Atem's mind close to a saint who did and said no wrong.

"Just tell me what you think. I value your insight."

Yugi puckered his mouth in thought then spoke. "I would tell you not to take the job because it's not your responsibility Atem." Atem frowned at Yugi's response. It sounded, well, so very adult-like and not like Yugi at all. He had no expectation of what he wanted to hear, it was just, very pedestrian compared to what he was used to.

"But what about the serial killer? Who will stop him?"

"I understand your frustration. But It's not your job Atem."

"The killer must not be allowed to do as he pleases," Atem said, the rage creeping into his voice.

Yugi fell into silence once again, his eyes dropping downwards deep in thought. Yugi was normally so eager to please that he often said useless things to avoid uncomfortable lulls in conversation. In those rare moments when he was silent, it meant he was thinking about something so complicated that conversation flow was secondary to his thoughts. As the lull lengthened, Atem felt more uncomfortable being this close to Yugi without a response.

"Yugi, what you are thinking," Atem said to break his discomfort.

A moment later, Yugi looked up and smiled in encouragement. "Atem, you already know what you decided. And you know that I'm not going to stop you. Even if it might be a bad idea, stopping you would be the same as suppressing vital qualities that make you who you are."

While Atem found his serious conversations with Yugi usually enlightening, it was also frustrating to be a part of them. Yugi would often fall back on cryptic language, sort of like some modern day Yoda, and Atem only after much soul searching admitted Yugi was wise beyond his years. In this conversation however, he only saw that Yugi disagreed with him and took it for what he thought it was.

"You think I can't handle myself? That facing a serial killer alone is too dangerous?" Atem asked, with a slight edge of disbelief.

"I never said that."

"Then why are you against it?"

Again, Yugi paused, as he struggled to put his thoughts into words.

"From what I see, you have no idea where your desire for justice starts and where your desire for Seto Kaiba ends. I can't see anything good happening with your inability to differentiate the two"

"I don't understand," Atem said, stubbornly disagreeing with the implication that all of his internal troubles were caused by something like desire. He didn't want to break Yugi's willingness for self-disclosure and chose to stay silent on the topic.

Yugi tried to clarify. "You are operating in two modes Atem. One seeks justice. The other seeks a connection. These two modes are not in harmony with one another."

"I just want the murders to stop," Atem said stubbornly.

At Atem's attitude, Yugi closed his eyes and looked like he was about to sigh. His natural politeness turned the action into a deep breath instead.

"Yugi, is there something else," Atem asked, trusting Yugi enough even though he didn't agree with it.

"Unless you know which side you're going to take and you fully commit to it, ..."

"...he's going to kill me?"

"No. Atem. I trust you," Yugi said with kindness. "Your natural intuition is very refined. You wouldn't attach yourself to someone without noble qualities."

At the suggestion of him deliberately choosing Seto Kaiba because the infuriating man was better than the scum of the earth had for some reason struck a nerve with Atem and he couldn't hold back his response. "He's a serial killer! A threat to society. I'm not going to let any of my personal failings get in the way of what's right."

"I think your personal feelings will interfere regardless of whether you want them to or not," Yugi calmly said in sympathy. "You can't control them."

"Even if so, I can't let the murders continue," Atem said, narrowing his eyes and balling his fists into his armrest.

Yugi deflated in his seat, and looked at Atem in helpless sympathy. "Why not?"

The answer was as natural as day to Atem and he didn't hold back. "Because life should be respected, not defiled!"

"That's very true," Yugi said, his eyes revealing his inner sorrows for everyone who suffered. "But it's not your responsibility to take on such a heavy burden."

"Are you saying i can't handle it?" Atem asked.

"Not exactly"

Atem couldn't figure Yugi out and frustrated he became silent, almost sulking like a petulant child. Sensing Atem's frustration Yugi took Atem's hand in his, warm and firm, and looked up at Atem with an emotional strength that Atem couldn't turn away from.

"Atem, you are an amazing person. I don't doubt your ability to catch the killer. And I also don't doubt your ability to wholly love. But you cannot do both at the same time."

Yugi's words sounded so simple and laid with such wisdom that Atem couldn't understand why they made no sense to him. Deep down he admitted that he wanted Yugi to either affirm his decision to take the job, or to give an insightful reason for him not to. Whatever Yugi was trying express was too difficult to rectify in Atem's mind because it spoke so confidently of a future that Atem would never consider. But Yugi's words and Atem's utmost respect in Yugi's insight was powerful enough to crumble any sort of hope that the situation could be resolved without having to address his personal feelings.

Atem felt his steely will dissolving and he looked at Yugi for support by tightening his hand's grip. This was the closest Atem would ever get to showing weakness to anyone. The moment Yugi squeezed back, he felt his composure return.

Yugi's expression said everything Atem needed to know. His understanding of Atem's desires and struggles, and his own sadness from his inability to lift the burden. "Aside from that there isn't any other advice I could give you."


	7. Chapter 7

"Dazing off like that, you thinking of a girl?" a voice from behind spoke and the prompt was enough to pull Atem out of his thoughts. Hands on a balcony railing, body bent over the threshold, he was deliberating on the sense of vertigo one got from such an insane height and wondered what Gozaburo Kaiba was thinking before he made the plunge.

"No. I was thinking about you," Atem said dryly, the words were directed at his partnered police officer though he didn't turn around from the wide scenic view in front of him.

"Oh, I never knew you could be so romantic," officer Nakamura said. Atem could feel the playful sarcasm and the unspoken command to get back on the job. His thoughts were so wistful that his mind wasn't able to formulate a comeback and left the exchange to die into silence.

This view was only afforded to Atem because he and the officer were visiting the 3rd puzzle scene, the high-rise mansion of once teen pop star Ritsuka Takeguchi. After one final lingering look, Atem decided he should get back on the job, and left the terraced balcony to join his partner. Entering through exquisitely crafted french doors and passing by an abundant amount of glittering crystal decorating the walls and obnoxiously plush carpeting, Atem found the officer beside a small glass dining room table where the victim was found. She was poisoned during her meal, left to die in place, the only remainder of her was white tape that marked the silhouette of her slim form on the chair and sprawled on top of the table..

"Such a shame, she seemed like such a lovely girl," the officer said, shaking his head in disbelief. Atem wasn't sure how the officer knew the victim was lovely, it seemed like a thing that old people said about young people regardless of their tempers.

"Did you follow her music?" Atem asked. Having laid the detective's personality quite similar to Joey's, he wondered if their interests were also the same.

"Naw. Too old. Once you get past a certain age, lusting after teenage girls gets weird," the older man said, and boyishly wiped his nose with the back of his sleeve, much like a certain someone Atem knew.

"You can tell that to my dad," Atem rolled his eyes, and the officer laughed.

"Did you listen to her music?" the officer asked back. "You were actually in the right generation."

"Not really."

"Now what's your excuse?" the man said, grinning in good nature.

"I'm not into pop music." Atem said, eyes on the table, focusing on the puzzle that was laid out right in front of him. For some reason the officer interpreted it as Atem saying he didn't like the victim's music because he didn't find her appealing.

"So what type of girl do you like? I bet you like girls who are pretty and serious."

'What's with you all of a sudden," Atem sent the officer a quick look of disapproval.

"Nothing. Just, realizing how young this girl is, and how young you are. It makes me think," the man said, tilting his head in wonder.

Atem continued his mental assessment of the scene, not paying much attention to the other man anymore. He had already fallen in Atem's estimation to a place that was only slightly higher than Joey, and he knew that the man held no concept of superiority that demanded respect from youth.

"So what is it?" the officer's voice penetrated Atem's thoughts.

"Hm?"

"What sorts of girls do you like?"

Atem didn't want to be rude so he switched his mind to ponder over that question. His first and last girlfriend was Tea Gardner, whom he dated for a brief span in high school. There were a lot of things that could describe her, but what really drew him to her was her spirit and passion for life. She was force in motion, always moving by impulse, brave and kind. He never loved her the way he should have and yet he would never meet anyone else like her. Without much thought, he said, "I like girls who are alive."

It didn't occur to Atem how weird that sounded, until he saw the officer's rueful smiling wince, and the outline of the dead girl fell into his vision.

"I didn't mean it that way," he muttered.

"Of course you didn't," the other man laughed.

The officer seemed satisfied leaving Atem alone for now, and he gazed at the table. On it were two plates, and three rows of cutlery that followed the curve of the table in concentric circles. The order and assortment of the cutlery were random, though it was rather obvious that they were part of a greater puzzle. The plates when the body was discovered were filled with untouched food, a different meal on each side. It was impossible to tell if the food was prepared by the killer or the victim. What killed the victim wasn't poison in the food, but her cup, that had poison laced on the rim.

"You read the case files right?" the officer once again spoke up.

"I did."

"Do you think there was someone sitting across from her on that table?" the police officer asked, and rounded up to the other side of the table imagining himself in the seat.

"It's hard to say if the victim made the food herself, or if the killer poisoned her and arranged everything afterwards," Atem said and frowned, deep in thought. All of the ingredients in the food were found in the fridge, and the pots and pans were not yet washed, indicating that the food was most likely made in the apartment.

"According to the report, her manager and friends said she was extremely secretive the last few days. She evaded her friends, security and the paparazzi like a pro. She told her manager she didn't want to be bothered because she finally found someone who understood her."

"Yes. Maybe someone was directing her?" Atem said, looking up thoughtfully from his position.

"Could be. But why would she suddenly shut out all the people in her life?"

"I can't really account for the thoughts of girls."

"Go figure right," the officer said and laughed.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the killer was with her on those last few days," Atem said, back in thought.

"You think so?"

"Maybe."

"She's a celebrity. She wouldn't allow someone into her life so easily," the policeman said, sighing. He looked to Atem in deep thought and didn't bother to expect a response. He continued voicing his theories, knowing the the shorter man was listening.

"How did she keep the identity of that person hidden so well?"

Atem looked up at the officer as the man spoke.

"Was it some sort of cult leader? A lover?"

She had a lover. That made sense to Atem. He remembered the first month when Tea first met him in highschool and the way in which she manufactured a lot of stupid shit to get his attention. If it was for love, people lost all sense of rationality in order to stay in the proximity of their object of affections. Ritsuka Takeguchi was a beautiful girl who no doubt had plenty of suitors. Anyone who was worthy of her attention would have to be in the same league as her. Even if she wasn't in love with this person, the right amount of status, beautify and power were sufficient ingredients to stimulate the feeling of strong infatuation. If it was a lover, then the girl's sudden competence and avoidance of her friends could be explained. Someone was pulling the strings.

The answer led to one person, and an overwhelming feeling of bitter anger consumed him as he spat out the name,

"Seto Kaiba."

"Ah, who?" the officer, startled, turned his head towards Atem.

"The CEO of Kaiba corp," Atem said without hesitation.

"Was he the one you were daydreaming about?" the man nudged Atem with a goofy look on his face, a look that was very reminiscent of a particular blond that was still on notice and deserving of a big punch. Unable to punch his superior, Atem just shot a dirty glare that surprised the officer in his intensity and the taller man stepped back.

"I was joking. Jesus christ Atem," the older man said, smiling good naturedly with a knowing air at Atem's drama.

Having heard it all before, Atem rolled his eyes.

* * *

"I don't really want to repeat myself on this detective." Atem crossed his arms stubbornly. "The first letter in the phrase has to be a 'T'."

"How do you know it's not 'H'. It doesn't spell anything out," the detective said, looking directly at the markings that graced the whiteboard.

The whiteboard that Atem was standing beside had been scrawled with the results of the puzzles so far. It read:

Case 1: H

Case 2: E

Case 3: S

The result of the 3rd puzzle had been discovered earlier in the day in a fashion similar to the first two.

If it was up to Atem, he would have wrote the board like this:

Case 1: T

Case 2: H

Case 3: E

Case 4: S

Case 1 being Gozaburo Kaiba's suicide of course.

Atem insisted the intended phrase of the killer started with 'the' or 'these' or some word that started with 'the'. The detective didn't understand why it was so important to jump to this conclusion. The two argued for a while, maybe out of stubborn pride, or maybe out of an unknown frustration that had no release valve aside from drawn out conversation. This continued until exasperated, the officer, who had been watching for quite a while stepped between the two and extracted the source of the problem.

"Seto Kaiba is the killer." Atem said without ornament.

"How in the world is he the killer?" The typical gruff of the detective had gone a pitch higher. "You can't just accuse people, especially someone with as much political clout as him."

Atem scoffed. It finally made sense now. Once the detective said the words Atem understood the cause for the man's denial.

"There's no definite one reason," Atem said more carefully now that he made such a bold statement, "A lot of the minor details add up."

"Then maybe it's good to keep Kaiba under consideration," the officer tried to helpfully add, to be ignored by the other two.

"I don't mind, but it won't do us any good," the detective said.

"If we don't have anything on him, we can keep watch on him." Atem suggested, still calm, still cool, unphased and standing beside the whiteboard, trying his best to keep his temper at bay.

"How? With what police resource," the detective demanded, his body tensing subtly from emotional charge.

"If you're not going to do anything, I'm going to take that job with Kaiba."

"Atem. You promised not to stick your nose in any further than the puzzles," the detective lowered his voice in warning.

"Then do something about him!"

The detective frowned at Atem, as he spoke steady and serious. "He's not the killer."

Although the detective's force of command had not diminished, the effects of Atem's confidence and of his own defensive attempts at arguing had eroded his certainty. That creeping doubt Atem had caught in the tail end of the detective's statement, and he wondered where the fracture originated. From all of his interactions with the detective, he had neither noticed any deep insight that would justify the head detective's remark that the gruff man's intuition was superb. The only thing he seemed to excel at was natural self preservation that of which Atem admitted was maybe a skill in its own way.

Atem realized just then the detective must have intuitively feared Kaiba, although for what reasons were far beyond him. These sensibilities seemed to belong in the world of adults who understood consequence and limits and hardlined their behaviour to act like reality should operate in sync with their private discoveries. Even if Atem could understand on an intellectual level, he would never be like them and that distance allowed him to feel no problem in twisting the detective's words.

"If Kaiba isn't the killer then there's no problem with me taking the job. And I can quit the job once we discover beyond a doubt that he isn't the killer."

"This isn't about who or who isn't the killer. It's about you promising not to meddle," the detective said, tired of trying but only capable of communicating with force what he lacked in finesse.

"I never promised anything," Atem said.

"I think Atem has an insight we should respect," the officer said, finally butting in at a critical juncture. "He is the one solving the puzzles after all."

The detective gave up. "Fine, if it's so important to you Atem, we'll question Seto Kaiba. But I am 100% sure that man will be able to account for all his whereabouts.

* * *

These days it seemed no matter what Atem did, an interminable fatigue crept into him, lodging itself in his bones, weighing him down with every added stress and pressure life threw at him. He returned home to find the apartment dark and hollow, the typical joy and happiness gone with Yugi's absence.

In the kitchen some food was left over and Yugi's note explaining that he was at Joey's house and that Atem could come if he wanted to. Too tired for another outing, Atem grabbed the food and brought it to his room.

It would have been nice for Yugi to be here right now, Atem thought, setting the unheated food on his desk and crawling into bed. He was so so tired yet he needed to dedicate some free time to think over the job offer. Only one day was left and he couldn't put it off any longer. He was hoping that Yugi would be around for him to sound off his worries, but it was his fault for not staying in communication with his friends.

Without Yugi the house was quiet and empty, void of personality and feeling. It wasn't an unfamiliar situation to Atem, being a single child brought up in a relatively sterile environment. But ever since he met Yugi, the feeling of loneliness had almost become a relic of the past. Circumstance and his own unstable emotional state had brought back the feeling of crushing isolation, in his own room so void of personal artifacts that it brought no comfort to him.

Atem covered his face with his hands and sighed. The chill of the room had sunk into him, so he wrapped himself in his thick blanket, much like a burrito and stayed in that position, sinking into the firm foam of his bed. The conversation he had with the detective still burned in his mind, and with it resurfaced all of the associated feelings of discomfort. When he had exclaimed Seto Kaiba was the killer to the police, he didn't know why he said it then, but left to his thoughts in silence, he had a better idea now. He wanted someone to agree with him, to support him, to believe his unconventional thoughts were not insane after all. Yugi had typically filled that role in the past. This time, obligation prevented Yugi from involvement and Atem learned how draining it was without a genuine support system by his side.

Why was it so hard for people to see he was doing the right thing? Regardless of whatever political, resource and intellectual prowess Seto Kaiba might have had, he was still the killer. What was the point of dumbly sitting by the sidelines waiting for him to kill person after person?

He was alone in his suppositions. Not only that, he felt that as he delved into the mind of the killer, the more they became a part of him. He could easily get lost in them. He needed a grounding, his own sense of morals, the foundation and strength of Yugi. But Yugi couldn't help Atem aside from saying ambiguous choice words. What were they again? He either could catch Kaiba or love him wholly. Ever since their serious conversation, Atem had shelved those words to the background, only reconsidering them now as a last minute consideration. It seemed important, weighty, despite Atem's natural inclination to dismiss and let it go. A deeper part of him knew it couldn't be ignored; Yugi's predictions had a way of coming true when taken lightly, and the nature of the situation was too serious to not be approached with caution.

It would be pure stupidity to outright deny the possibility that he could hold romantic feelings for Seto Kaiba. The man was intelligent, handsome, and confident, traits that Atem would have found appealing in any other scenario. But love? Yugi had used that word so brazenly, speaking of a potential that Atem couldn't even imagine or consider. His hatred for the killer was so strong that there wasn't any space for such a pure and fragile emotion like love to exist within it. Nevertheless, Yugi's warning should be heeded, and much like someone who had never fallen in love, Atem thought keeping a measured distance was enough to keep those unwanted feelings at bay.

In his mind, it was simply a matter of discouraging any behaviour that had amorous intent, and he was very good at setting and enforcing strong boundaries. Love wouldn't be an issue Atem reasoned, and with Yugi's implicit blessing, a lot his hesitations regarding the job had evaporated.

There was one important thing Atem disagreed fully with Yugi on however and it was the opinion that Seto Kaiba was noble enough not to kill Atem. That notion of nobility in Atem's understanding of ties and relationships meant refraining from hurting one's own family, no matter how brutish or abusive that person may be. If Kaiba held no hesitance in killing his father, then the same could be said for lovers or anyone else in the totem of importance. That's why the killer had to be stopped, and he was sure if Yugi was privy to this information, he would agree.

Atem uncurled himself from the bed and pulled out Seto Kaiba's business card along with his cell phone from the other pocket. The sudden cold was totally unwelcome and he rushed back into the retained warmness of his bed. Between his index finger and thumb he held the card, where the fine material of the paper appeased Atem's sense of touch. Everything about the card, from the semi transparent vellum-plastic silver-blue paper, and the beautiful embossed dark blue font was crafted with the highest quality, displaying its pride of being an extension of the man that it represented.

Aside from the lettering the card was plain. It simply had Kaiba's name and phone number. The straightforwardness of the card reminded Atem of the man he met in the interview, and the memory was powerful enough to make the whole process daunting.

So much of the last two weeks was spent deliberating the act that it had blown up in importance. It couldn't be helped that Atem felt anxiety over handing himself over as one of Kaiba's subordinates; it had become the same thing to him as handing himself over to a serial killer. The anxiety came from not knowing what was in store, rather, from knowing that Kaiba would call all the shots and the only sliver of power he had was in the form of dissent.

Getting over himself and his internal worries, Atem decided to bite the bullet and punched in the numbers then held the receiver up to his ear.

He didn't have to wait too long until the call picked up and a very familiar deep voice came across from the other side.

"Speak,' it demanded. The greeting was so brusque that it threw Atem off, though not enough for him to respond properly.

"This is Atem Sennen. You interviewed me two weeks ago. I'm calling to accept the job."

"Very well,' Kaiba said without any noticeable emotion. "Come in next Saturday at 6:00am."

Atem waited for Kaiba to say more, but he was only met with a pause. "...Alright. Is there a dress code?" Atem asked, wondering why there was so little instruction.

"What you were wearing is fine. Avoid looking like a girl. Is that it?"

"Yes." Atem responded, frowning. He didn't know what else to say after receiving such an answer and decided Kaiba must have had faith in his choices to not say anything.

"Ok." Kaiba said and hung up.

* * *

When Atem woke that Saturday morning, the world was still asleep in the dead of the night. A constant beating shrill of the alarm clock was piercing his senses but sleepiness and the warmth of his bed was powerful enough to keep him in place.

The digital display of his alarm clock read 4:48am.

Morning preparation was a tired and true affair, and in unspectacular fashion Atem left his apartment dragging his feet and nodding off on odd intervals. The world outside was just as dark, and the chilly winds had prickled against his face as he walked against it.

In the dark, the Kaiba Corp building had become looming and sinister, still beautiful and ephemeral. Lights were turned on occasional whole floors, and Atem noted that the topmost one was also included.

Atem approached the ground floor receptionist with a combination of strung out fatigue that clashed with adrenaline fueled anxiety. He had no idea how tired he looked, the anxiety was stirring within him, yet it didn't seem to reach his eyes. They drooped and he blinked to dispel the wave of sleep in succession as he glanced at the unchanging expression of the receptionist who simply handed him his access card hung from a clip. She said,

"Kaiba has instructed you to go to room AE112 in 10 minutes. You can get beverages in the kitchen inside the room."

After thanking her, he followed the previous path he took on his previous visit to the elevator. There were two sets of elevators: one that went up the lower half of the building and the other the upper half. Guessing he would be in rather close proximity to Kaiba, Atem took the upper elevator. His guess was correct, he found the floor button 'AE' and pressed it while scanning the keycard on the sensor panel.

Room AE112 was right in front of him as the elevator doors revealed a large, gorgeously furnished room. In fact, it was the only visible room on the floor. A short hallway connected to the room on the right, and on the left, was a beautiful outdoor patio, lighted expertly in the dark. The two walls encasing the hallway were made of thick glass so that activity in both the room and patio were visible.

Without the time to leisurely enjoy the view, Atem went into room AE112. The room was large, sprawling, on one corner was a steel reception style desk, most likely his, and close to the center was an oval glass table with plush white chairs surrounding it. Various objects designed for passing time were organized on a big display case and stations of video games or small cafe style seating areas were scattered here and there. Overall, it looked like the room was one big waiting area, probably for clients who had a personal audience with Kaiba. Beyond the reception desk the wall receded into a small space that was tastefully decorated and lighted that led to two sets of doors.

Done with taking his surroundings in, Atem stepped into an opening on the left, that led into the kitchen. Like everything else, the kitchen was as tastefully furnished. Already accustomed to the lavish stylings of the interior, Atem spent little time admiring and started going through the cupboards and shelves to make himself a cup of coffee.

With coffee in hand and not so pathetically drowsy, Atem stood beside the reception desk waiting for Kaiba. The coffee's effects didn't kick in yet, but having something warm in his hand soothed his racing heart and reminded him to breathe. Not much later, sound of an opening door was heard. Atem could swear that Kaiba emerged from the interior door exactly when the clock struck 6:00am. Showing absolutely no sign of wear, the CEO looked bored and nonchalant, whilst keeping a keen eye on Atem. Atem bore that gaze in a state of muted anxiety that held him in suspense.

Similar to the phone conversation, the man had no inclination to make a polite greeting and got right to business.

"I hope I don't need to spell things out for you. Your job is to keep track of where I am at all working hours, and to deal with anyone who comes on this floor. Keep the kitchen stocked and food ready for important clients. There's a monthly food budget that I expect you not to surpass."

Kaiba looked at Atem expecting a response. Without anything to work from Atem was only able to say,

"Alright."

Kaiba took this as an acceptable response and pulled out a 12 inch tablet and handed it to Atem, who briefly looked down to take the offered item and immediately returned his gaze.

"Any paper work and scheduling formats are stored in the tablet."

Again, Atem just took in the instruction without question. He nodded to Kaiba and the other man nodded back in satisfaction.

"Good," he said, and made a motion to turn around until he stopped midway then looked back at Atem. "Also, I trust you to print whatever paperwork that's required for your job. Put the signed sheets in my mailbox."

"Ok," Atem said as he watched the CEO's retreating form disappear back into the door he came from.

With the other man out of his sight, Atem breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't exactly expecting to get stabbed or anything, but he wasn't altogether excluding the possibility. It wasn't as bad as he expected. That aura of domination and intimidation wasn't there this time, and while unfriendly, Kaiba didn't seem like an unreasonable man. Just, a person who seemed to dislike trivialities and having his time wasted.

The large empty space of the waiting room had somehow shrunk in the small time he was there as he sat at the reception desk and tried to familiarize himself with the many gadgets and machines hidden in his workspace. Being able to concentrate on a task had distracted him from ominous thoughts and the emptiness of the room. The distraction would have to do for the moment. It was better than thinking about the future and trying to grasp the full consequences of his choices.

* * *

AN: OK FINALLY. YAOI START GO. soon. I hope. It's getting easier and easier to write, and i don't know if that's a good sign or a bad one.

anywayyyy, I think from the way that i'm not very good at plotting non yaoi elements, whatever story i'm going to work on next will have the plot center more on sex and sort of handwave everything else later.


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